hammer change - shaping

[Isaac OLEG]

Hello Richard,

I am often amazed to see how much of a good tone is obtained while
leaving the strings mark almost intact.
And indeed unless a complete go round is made half solutions does not
seem to gove interesting results. (Particularly because too much
weight is off if complete shaping is done)
That is why I am very interested in seeing the method (and hear the
result) for these fast cap shaping supposedly due at Yamaha France.


I may state I am not impressed with the tone of the conservatory
pianos, they sound like , eh . school pianos (grin)
Too much shaping mean that the outer core is broken, so the work is to
be done agin almost from the start.
I'd say the hammers I've seen where terribly lacking power after they
have been shaped lightly agin an again.

And I measure DW 40 UW 15 for instance in the middle of a Steinway B .
Goes for a very light head probably.

Sometime the felt does not hold enough and shaping the shoulders
modify the global shape to a potatoes.
This is why I wonder if a first good deep and battery needling is not
the good method, and then, a little shaping only to have less large
grooves is due. Nowadays that is the way the S&S techs work on
instruments that are used a lot like in Radio France. They change
hammers every 8 years or so with this method.
The trick is to leave enough reserve and be very cautious to keep
enough basement. ( low shoulder firmness )
But the top may be very tensioned and springy, then the size of the
grooves matter way less, and it is not damping high partials as can be
believed at first.

Any more thoughts ?

Regards and greetings.

Isaac OLEG

Entretien et reparation de pianos.

PianoTech
17 rue de Choisy
94400 VITRY sur SEINE
FRANCE
tel : 033 01 47 18 06 98
fax : 033 01 47 18 06 90
cell: 06 60 42 58 77

> -----Message d'origine-----
> De : Richard Brekne [mailto:Richard.Brekne@grieg.uib.no]
> Envoye : jeudi 8 mai 2003 22:43
> A : oleg-i@wanadoo.fr; Pianotech
> Objet : Re: hammer change - shaping
>
>
> Issac, Ed, and others..
>
> Andre' went into this subject in some detail with me while we were
> visiting during the Easter holidays. I think as I
> understand his point
> that it is his contention that the voice of the hammer
> remains basically
> intact even through what is often considered rather severe
> wear. Instead
> of a complete reshaping job entailing re-mating hammers to
> strings, a
> complete revamp of the voicing due to more significant
> changes in hammer
> mass and exterior tension, along with all the fine single
> string voicing
> and whatever other tone building processes one finds usefull.....,,
> leaving the hammers unshaped allows one to simply touch up
> the existing
> voicing without all the rest of it. And, I think the
> contention is, with
> similar results in quality.
>
> Thinking about this it is not sooooo off the wall. If the origional
> shaping and mating was done well, then about the only thing that is
> really changed with wear is the surface area that contacts
> the string.
> There was an article not to long ago in the Journal about
> voicing at the
> extremes of the string marks on such hammers.
>
> I dont think we are talking about a flat top that extends 5 mm or
> anything, but certainly more wear then is usual to allow
> for. After the
> first reshaping then (by Andre's suggestion) and then
> waiting until that
> same amount of wear and tear again is apparent, roughly the
> same amount
> of time will have passed as what you describe in a University
> situation.... 3-4 years. And in both cases by then hammers
> are ready for
> replacement.
>
> Course Andre' will jump in and clarify wherever I have misunderstood
> him, but on the surface of it... it seems to make some
> sense. Or what ?
>
> RicB
>
> Isaac OLEG wrote:
> >
> > Hello Andre,
> >
> > The instruments in the conservatory are shaped every year
> a little.
> >
> >otech
>
> --
> Richard Brekne
> RPT, N.P.T.F.
> UiB, Bergen, Norway
> mailto:rbrekne@broadpark.no
> http://home.broadpark.no/~rbrekne/ricmain.html
> http://www.hf.uib.no/grieg/personer/cv_RB.html
>