Speaking of hammers...

[Tom Servinsky]

Brian,
You are pretty on target so far. The felt weight is in deed the weight of
the entire piece of felt prior to it being attached to the moldings.
However that's for a whole sheet of compressed felt. Can't imagine a piece
of felt the length of a set of hammers weighing 14lbs...that would be close
to pinblock stock...da! Talk about a heavy action.
A far better way of knowing what to order is to weigh the existing hammers
and duplicate that weight, provided they are proper hammers for that piano.
For example a #1 hammer , say an older Steinway grand, will weigh approx.
8-9 grams. Most good makers and suppliers of hammers can work with knowing
the existing weight of hammers #1, and the 1st tenor hammer. Personally the
12lb,14lb, and 19lb nomenclature is pure rhetoric when it comes to action
geometry because felt weight doesn't describe the entire picture. Was
underfelt added? Does it have mahogany moldings or walnut moldings? Staples?
There are so many variables beyond the choice of felt lbs. which factor into
the end result.
If you want to get real exact, for less than $80, you can invest in a tool
for a lifetime...a digital scale, available at most office supply stores.
This little gem will come in handy with measuring all of your action parts
for the remainder of the rebuilding. Then when ordering hammers  you can be
very specific as to what you are looking for.
Tom Servinsky,RPT
----- Original Message -----
From: "Brian Trout" <grandrestorations@yahoo.com>
To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: Friday, October 12, 2001 6:52 PM
Subject: Speaking of hammers...


> Hi all,
>
> Speaking of hammers,...
>
> I've noticed on numerous occasions when looking
> at hammers in the supply catalogs that they are
> available with several different moldings.  I can
> understand that part of it, weight!  Hammers with
> maple moldings would definitely be heavier than
> ones made with (for instance) mahogony.
>
> But what about the felt??  It is pretty normal to
> see them available in 12 lbs., 14 lbs., and 16
> lbs. specifications.
>
> Does anybody have an explaination of specifically
> what that means in practical terms?  Is it the
> weight of the felt put into the press for the
> entire set?  Getting real basic here, if I were
> looking for a lighter (weight) hammer, would I
> want to be getting the 12 lb. set instead of the
> 16 lb. set?  And vice versa, should I be getting
> the 16 lb. set if I'm interested in a heavier
> hammer?  I know that techs are getting much
> fussier about individual hammer weight these days
> and I'm wondering if I could be reducing the
> amount of work simply by which set of hammers I
> order.
>
> I've never really heard much of an explaination
> about this.
>
> Anyone care to enlighten me a bit?  I have a
> feeling I'm not the only one who's ever wanted to
> know.  :-)
>
> Thanks,
>
> Brian T.
>
>
> =====
> Brian Trout
> Grand Restorations
> 3090 Gause Blvd., #202
> Slidell, LA  70461
> 985-649-2700
> GrandRestorations@yahoo.com
>
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