Hammer hardener

[A440A@aol.com]

Michel writes;

 >       You will get results from the acetone/plastic solution within thirty
>minutes, and in my experience, it does not change a whole bunch after that.
>You can tell when the acetone has evaporated by touching the hammer, it will
>cease to feel cold and you can also hear by the difference in tone.

  Greetings;

     I feel the need to throw my solution into the solution.......  I have
become accustomed to a voicing  solution made of acetone and sanding
sealer,(lacquer-type),
This is not quite so hard as lacquer,  and is  "voiceable" later on.
     It sets quite fast,  and I determine that by smell.  If I smell anything
that reminds me of my mother's nail polish remover,  it ain't finished
drying.
    Usually a mix of between 5:1 and 8:1 is what I find works for me.

   The thickness depends on the desired effect.  A very thin solution goes
deeper into the hammer, and is more permanent, albeit less dramatic.   A
thicker concentration will not penetrate quite so far, and if placed on the
shoulder, fore and aft,  will usually harden in the outer area of the felt,
 making it removable to some degree with the shaping file.
    And for those situations where an artist is adamant about more brilliance
in the bottom octave, one thin drop, right on top,  will get them started,
and be almost broken back down to the original level by the time they are
finished.
   The use of lacquer is still prevalent in the recording studios,  but the
improvement in microphones and tape technology, digital, etc..  should have
made the piano more "recordable".  Sadly,  I don't see that happening, and
most of the commercial music I hear has a rather thin piano sound.

Regards,
Ed Foote
Precision Piano Works
Nashville, Tn.