Shellac vs. lacquer

[David Love]

Susan:

I think the problem with using hardeners on the crown of soft hammers
without reinforcing the structure underneath is that you can end up with the
thumbtack-in-the-marshmallow-sound.  When you play softly, the piano seems
to have some power, but as you start to force it and compress the hammer
down to the underlying structure the hammer just flattens out and you get
nothing.

The difficulty lies in reinforcing the hammer deep without allowing the
stronger lacquer to creep to the surface.  I've gone to adding lacquer from
the sides when I want to build up the overall firmness.  You can direct the
lacquer deep underneath the strike point (where it is needed) without
letting it creep up to the crown.  On a Steinway hammer, getting the lacquer
under the crown is essential.  Reinforcing the from the shoulders has little
or no effect if the lacquer doesn't creep under the strike point.  Several
drops on each side of the hammer will penetrate without getting to the crown
and you can control just how close to the crown you want it to go.
Basically, the lower in the scale, the farther from the crown.  I also use
two solutions for reinforcing switching to a slightly weaker solution as I
get into the low tenor and bass.

After you have built up the underlying structure of the hammer (which you
test by playing loud when the lacquer is thoroughly dry), you can then
address the attack with a weaker solution.  Adjustments in the reinforcing
can be done again from the side if you find that the hammer is not quite
firm enough without effecting the attack.

David Love
----- Original Message -----
From: "Susan Kline" <sckline@attbi.com>
To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: July 15, 2002 11:42 AM
Subject: Re: Shellac vs. lacquer


Thanks, David. That's the kind of detailed information which is helpful.
So far I've just used a few drops behind the strike point of mushy hammers,
(which technique I picked up from Steve Brady, who used it to good effect
once when I was watching) or a dilute solution applied to the crown in
the top octave. I just haven't had the occasion to work out a lot of styles
for voicing with shellac, so anyone else's experience with it is good
to hear.

"The shine without the ping" -- yes, that's what I'm after!

Susan

At 11:20 AM 7/15/2002 -0700, you wrote:
>Just a comment on using lacquer.  I assume you are talking about strike
>point hardening since you mention that you don't use shellac to build up a
>hammer from scratch.  I still use lacquer but the solutions I use vary.
For
>crown lacquering I use a much more dilute solution than I use for building
>up the overall density of the felt.  Whereas I use a 3:1 or 4:1 solution
for
>building up a hammer from scratch, I will use a 5:1 for the crown (your
>dilutions may vary depending on the type of lacquer you are using).  At 5:1
>the attack will be slightly sharpened.  One application of a couple of
drops
>is usually enough.  When the hammer is first played after it dries there
>will be a bit of crustiness.  But a few blows shifting the una corda back
>and forth as you play will break it up and leave just a bit more shine to
>the attack without the any unwanted pinging.