----- Original Message ----- From: <A440A@aol.com> To: <pianotech@ptg.org> Sent: Wednesday, November 05, 2003 9:02 AM Subject: Re: Yamaha hammers--Glenn C. > Dale writes: > << Interesting now days I think on some models the hammers are more pliable > & > I've heard some good things about them. I'm in the shop so much I'm kinda > outa > that loop. Anbody else know? >> > . . . with a single #6 needle that is almost long enough to reach the core wood. What kind of needle do you use and how do you keep them from breaking? Every time I try a length longer than about 5/16", they break on me. > The hammers are so hard that if you begin at the upper shoulder, the > tension in them will tear them apart after a while. > Regards, > Ed Foote RPT Yes. I found that in many 80's Yamaha grands, after filing hammers, even with no needle voicing, they would pull apart at the strike point, making the hammers pear-shaped rather than egg-shaped. I couldn't figure out why they were doing that, but it seems to make sense that the string cuts had acted like a hatchet chopping at a rope, and the filing enabled them to pull apart even more. But you'd think once you filed to the bottom of the string cuts (starting a "layer" on each shoulder and pulling it around to the strike point), that the felt fibers would still be intact below the cuts. Maybe I didn't file enough off, but I wanted to remove the least felt possible. Is that indeed what's happening in a hammer with lots of tension -- like bending a rope sharply, then hacking at the top of the bend with a knife, gradually cutting the fibers and making it pull apart? --David Nereson, RPT
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