Hammer softening

[Ron Nossaman]

> Thanks for pointing out that this subject has been thoroughly discussed 
> on the list.  However, my search of the archives, which I felt was 
> rather exhaustive, did not come up with much about hammer softening at all.
> 
> Gary Fluke

Not hammer softening, though it has come up, but rather the 
fact that a less toxic alcohol than methanol works just as 
well. The alcohol is just a wetting agent, breaking the 
water's surface tension and allowing it to penetrate the 
hammer felt or bushing cloth. The water does the actual work, 
which is why steam also works well for softening hammers, and 
incidentally more controllably.
Ron N