fine grit hammer filing

[Farrell]

Have you ever tried the hammer-routing/shaping attachement for the Dremel
tool? Once you get the hang of it you can reshape a set of total trash
upright hammers in ten minutes or so. No need to even do any manual
filing/sanding afterwards. I wouldn't battle an old upright without it!

Terry Farrell

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Dave Nereson" <davner@kaosol.net>
To: "Pianotech" <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: Sunday, November 14, 2004 5:06 AM
Subject: Re: fine grit hammer filing


>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Farrell" <mfarrel2@tampabay.rr.com>
> To: "Pianotech" <pianotech@ptg.org>
> Sent: Friday, November 12, 2004 3:36 PM
> Subject: Re: fine grit hammer filing
>
>
> >MessageDon, I'd hate to think I know even one little thing that you don't
> >know, but........
> >"For badly worn hammers or removing a lot of felt on new hammers I start
> >with 180 or 220 grit strips..."
> >I guess you just haven't seen (or have forgotten) BADLY WORN hammers.
Some
> >are so bad (we are >router!
>
> >Terry Farrell
>
>     Amen.  Many old uprights I run into have never had the hammers filed
in
> their lives and the string grooves in the bass can be 1/4 deep.  Tenor and
> treble hammers can look like someone took a belt sander to the crowns!
Even
> with 40-year-old consoles and spinets, the grooves can be 1/8" deep or
more.
> Start with 180?  Not hardly.  More like #36 or #40 grit.  That's right.
> Just a little finer than the stuff used for sanding hardwood floors.  If
> they're not quite so bad, I'll start with 50 grit, and in the high treble,
> if the grooves are down to the wood, I'm forced to use something finer.
And
> no, I'm not removing more felt than necessary -- just enough to get to the
> bottom of the string grooves.
>     Even on hammers that just have string indentations rather than actual
> ruts, I've usually started with 50, then done a final pass with 100 or
120.
> If I did the first pass with grits that fine, it would take all weekend to
> file the whole set.
>     But now maybe I'll try some of the finer grits ... just seems like
using
> a scissors to mow the lawn.
>     --David Nereson, RPT
>
>
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