Refelting antique hammers

[Mark Schecter]

Hi, Dave.

Dave Doremus wrote:
> As far as I know the best is in Europe. I have tried it myself with 
> mixed success, if you really want a soft fuzzy tone you can get it :-) I 
> have never been able to get enough tension in the felt to make me happy. 

I'm impressed that you tried it at all. Where did you get the felt? Did
you buy it pretapered, or did you do that, too? How did you decide how
to apply the clamping force to the felt, where and how much? Did you
make a caul, cobble together clamps, or what?

> I would strongly suggest doing the whole set for evenness of tone. I 
> have had  very soft felt on original moldings from Fletcher and Newman 
> in England. I dont know if they still do this. 

I just looked up their web site, and they do still offer this service.
Thanks for the pointer.

Abel in Germany does a
> great job, but the felt is distinctly harder. Are the moldings unusual 
> enough that you dont want to get a new set of Ronsens?

It's really that, despite its age, this piano does not need a whole set
of hammers. It's really only in the top octave or so that they're worn
badly. The owner plays mostly to accompany singing, and has another
piano for heavier playing. He just doesn't want to go the whole route at
this time.

Thanks very much for your suggestions.

-Mark Schecter