Boston Hammers, was: Interesting Piano Belly - Mehlin Grand

[David Love]

Ed:

I don't know if you followed the whole thread, but my comments were in
response to the observation that suggestions about the handling of hammers
were sometimes contradictory and that differences in piano soundboard
assemblies might account for that.  My point was that certain hammers
require a certain type of treatment no matter what piano they are in.  Just
as you wouldn't lacquer a Renner hammer to compensate for some soundboard
anomaly, neither would you hope to improve the tone of a Steinway hammer by
needling the shoulders in some other type of setup.  A Steinway hammer by
design will always need to be made denser (or stiffer if you prefer).  A
Renner hammer will always need to be made more resilient.

By the way, Steinway shoulders do not need to be completely solidified with
hardener, nor do I think they should be.  In fact, if you keep the hardener
off the shoulder and put it under the crown at the core of the hammer where
it is needed, then as the hammer wears you are less likely to get the noise
that comes from the strike point expanding into the rock hard shoulder.  Of
course, a periodic filing doesn't hurt either.



David Love


----- Original Message -----
From: <A440A@AOL.COM>
To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: July 24, 2002 2:50 PM
Subject: Re: Boston Hammers, was: Interesting Piano Belly - Mehlin Grand


David writes:
> but I've never had to lacquer a set of Renners (bottom 5 or
>>top 5 notes excepted) or needle the shoulders in a Steinway hammer to
>get more resilience because of a particular soundboard assembly.

Greetings,
 I am with you on the Renners, but the STeinway hammers are not supposed to
be needled anywhere but in the crown. (according to Fred Drasche and other
factory personel).
   As I look at the new Steinways,  I often see needle tracks going straight
down into the supposedly "un-lacquered"  core, but rarely see the lower
shoulders punctured.  Which makes sense, since the shoulders are usually
completely solidified with hardener and the needle simply leaves a hole in
the cement.
Regards,
Ed Foote RPt