David Stanwood's comments on lacquering hammers.

[gordon stelter]

Hi David,
     Would it help to "juice" the hammers with
something of a less brittle nature than lacquer,
something perhaps more "rubbery" when dry?
     Has anyone extensively experimented with
different soultions?
     How about the stuff they make "Super Balls" out
of? Or rubberized Ca glue.( haha )
     Really, any suggestions for positive alternatives
to nc lacquer?
     I also recommend stopping by to see Dolge's
amazing old factory in Dolgevlle, N.Y., if you're ever
up that way. 
     Cheers,
     Gordon

--- "David C. Stanwood" <stanwood@tiac.net> wrote:
> Love the conversation about felt and voicing!
> 
> I have to share this quote from a grand master:
> 
> "The art of hammer making has ever been to obtain a
> solid,  firm
> foundation, graduating in softness and elasticity
> toward the top surface,
> which latter has to be silky and elastic in order to
> produce a mild, soft
> tone for pianissimo playing, but with sufficient
> resistance back of  it to
> permit the hard blow of fortissimo playing."  
> Alfred Dolge - Pianos and
> their Makers  1911
> 
> For me hammer felt voicing is all about a balance
> between hammer weight,
> density gradient, and resiliency.
> 
> Lacquer builds density at the expense of resiliency.
>  A common problem with
> lacquer is that flooding the whole hammer hardens
> the surface fibers and
> makes for unpleasent pianissimo tone...  a good
> lacquer technique is to
> juice the shoulder with lacquer and immediately
> juice the crown with
> solvent or thin lacquer.   The thinner solution
> draws the harder lacquer
> out of the shoulder thinning it as it gets closer to
> the crown creating a
> density gradient while at the same time acting as a
> resist, keeping the
> harder lacquer out of the crown surface.  
> 
> David Stanwood
> 
> _______________________________________________
> pianotech list info:
https://www.moypiano.com/resources/#archives


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