Fw: Hammer glue

Richard Brekne Richard.Brekne@grieg.uib.no
Tue, 11 Nov 2003 12:20:14 +0100


Hi there Clyde

Clyde Hollinger wrote:
> 
> Ric,
> 
> I do the repair this way when needed because it's much more efficient, the
> hammers still all match each other when I'm finished, and the end results
> are satisfactory.  Your response seems to assume two things.  There are a
> lot of spare hammers lying around, and the piano is in a shop.


I understand the point about having a field job and spare hammers a long
ways away. I personally carry a box of about 100 various hammers when
I'm on the road. As for fitting the rest... Always seemed to me if there
was a way of guarenteeing a hammer that stood out from the others then
it was by reglueing. The hammer is bound to have much less tension in it
then those that hadnt come loose. I dunno,,, I just always found it much
easier to "match" by picking an appropriate sized hammer and needling it
as needed.

> But I do not have a shop.  When I find this problem I am in someone's house,
> and since I do not replace sets of hammers, I do not have lots of used ones
> lying around.  Even if I did, it's going to take some time to find one that
> matches, and I wouldn't carry all those old hammers around in my car
> anyway.  The piano is usually fair to poor quality and/or condition, so
> regluing the felt is a very acceptable repair in my opinion.

I can buy your reasoning well enough. Especially that last bit...
especially especially if you dont stock leftovers from new hammersets.
And you are right in that a glue repair is far better then just walking
away, thats for sure.

> 
> Last month I came across a worn out studio piano with ten hammers like
> this.  Using CA glue it took me 20 minutes to repair all of them.  It would
> have taken much longer to replace them, and it usually looks pretty bad,
> too.  Of course if the piano had some decent worth, it really should have a
> whole new set of hammers.
> 

Good points to be sure. It does take a bit longer to change them out,
and you do have to voice them, and it usually is on a piano that really
doesnt resolve better then the glue repair will cover to begin with.....
still... grin... well.. you know me :)

> Regards, Clyde
> 

Cheers Clyde

RicB


-- 
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

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