Seasoning Dampers

[Joe And Penny Goss]

If the strings are level------------
Joe Goss RPT
Mother Goose Tools
imatunr at srvinet.com
www.mothergoosetools.com
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Bob Hull" <hullfam5 at yahoo.com>
To: "'Pianotech List'" <pianotech at ptg.org>
Sent: Saturday, May 24, 2008 9:46 PM
Subject: Seasoning Dampers


>    Dear Friends, 
> 
>    In my early training for rebuilding pianos, I was
> taught to make a moderate set of weights to place on
> top of the damper heads for newly installed damper
> felts.  I used a couple of pieces of pvc pipe with a
> small block of wood on top to put on the new dampers
> with the intention of helping the new felt conform to
> the string.
> 
>   However, a couple of weeks ago a well-respected tech
> said that other techs and he shared the opinion that
> this practice caused problems for them, actually
> deforming the felt due to the extra weight.
> 
>    I feel like I am spending more time than I should
> to get a new set of dampers working effeciently so I
> tried this.  At least on the piano I just finished, I
> had better results without the seasoning weight. 
> 
> What are your experiences regarding this practice?
> 
> Thanks,
> Bob Hull
> 
> 
> 
>