Rebuilding old uprights

[Dave Nereson]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Michael Gamble" <michael@gambles.fsnet.co.uk>
To: "Pianotech" <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: Thursday, February 05, 2004 4:17 PM
Subject: Re: Rebuilding old uprights


 > Would anyone on the list like to comment on the effect of ageing on
hammer
> felt?
> Regards from a black Sussex  Night. (no stars)
> Michael G (UK)


    I don't know about in jolly olde England, where it's much more humid,
but I've encountered some old pianos where the hammer felt consisitency had
become like styrofoam (not the bead type, but the extruded).  Not quite that
light, but instead of filing off in layers, it just "sculpts".  You can
almost dent it with your thumb, too -- like styrofoam.  Nothing to do but
put on new hammers.
    I've run into a few pianos where the felt on the top shoulder of the
hammer (uprights, I'm talking) was almost gummy (nothing spilled on them,
though) and it was tough to get a layer started when filing/reshaping,
whereas on the bottom shoulder it was "normal".  I don't know if dust and
dirt combined with humidity gave them that toughness or if it was from age.
    Those were just a few, however; almost all the other old pianos whose
hammers I've filed or voiced didn't seem to have suffered much from age,
apart from being worn and grooved from playing.  Oh, there are the ones that
have bug holes in them, but that's bugs, not age.    --David Nereson, RPT