Seasoning Dampers

[Fenton Murray]

I believe the bean bag is to hold the dampers while tightening the screws, it saves some of the re-adjust, re-tighten circle of refinement that we go through on installing dampers. I've never heard of weighting down the heads to seat the felt, that sounds destructive to me but is just MO.
Using blocks of wood of the same dimension as your damper felt to dry fit the damper heads before gluing on the felt can be a big help in getting felt to seat properly. All that's left is the left/right alignment of the felt which can be accomplished by installing the damper with the glue wet and making small corrections in the alignment before the glue sets. Another way is to set the felt in position on the strings and then lower the damper down on top.
Fenton
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Willem Blees 
  To: pianotech at ptg.org 
  Sent: Sunday, May 25, 2008 2:02 PM
  Subject: Re: Seasoning Dampers


  I think Spurlock sells a "bag of beans", that can be placed on top of the dampers to weight them down. Personally I have never used anything to weigh them down. If any pressure is needed to make sure a damper fits right, I just use a finger. I believe the weight of the damper lever should be enough to properly seat a damper. But, as Joe mentioned, you have to make sure the strings are level. 

  Just my 4 cents worth.


  Willem (Wim) Blees, RPT
  Piano Tuner/Technician
  Honolulu, HI
  Author of 
  The Business of Piano Tuning
  available from Potter Press
  www.pianotuning.com


  -----Original Message-----
  From: Bob Hull <hullfam5 at yahoo.com>
  To: 'Pianotech List' <pianotech at ptg.org>
  Sent: Sat, 24 May 2008 5:46 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



      

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