At 4:17 pm -0400 24/7/07, Jon Page wrote: > >...what glue was used to install the hammers? I somehow suspect it >wasn't hot hide... > >I just reset about 75 notes on a grand which had new hammers >installed with hot hide glue about 7 years ago. I reglued them >with Bolduc's Wood Glue which I use exclusively now for hammers >since I have experienced hot hide failure when using distilled or tap >water and premium glue crystals. It's worked well enough for well-made pianos for 150 years and I would never use anything else. Provided the hammer bore is correct and the shanks are properly knurled (and I don't mean the factory knurling) it is impossible for the hammer to work loose whatever glue is used. If it is still easy to adjust the angle of the hammer half a minute or so after the glue has been applied, then things are wrong. As the knurled shank re-expands with the moisture from the glue a point is quickly reached where the shank is a compression fit in the hammer-head and so it will remain when everything has set and dried out. The only way to do hammers is fast. If you rely on gap-filling properties of glue so that you have an eternity to move the hammer about until the glue sets, then that hammer is at risk of working loose. JD
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