[pianotech] Glue for hammers

[Ron Nossaman]

david at piano.plus.com wrote:
> Ron your five-month glue experiment is absolutely fascinating! Thank you
> for reporting the results.
> 
> I noticed that the Titebond information sheet for M&T in fact lists it as
> "Thixotropic polyvinyl acetate".  Tixotropic (just in case anyone here
> doesn't know, but I am sure everyone does) is the word for exactly the
> property of cornstarch & water and mixes like it, that flow and are easily
> fluid with slow movement, but become brittle with attempted rapid
> movement.
> 
> It sounds as if, interestingly, the Titebond M&T retains the thixotropic
> property even when dry.  For  some applications, that might be useful.
> 
> If in fact the dried M&T is brittle with rapid movement, then maybe it
> would be OK for hammers: If we can consider the movement of and vibration
> in a hammer as of sudden onset when it hits the string, then if the dried
> M&T is thixotropic, perhaps the join would in fact be extremely rigid at
> the onset of the hammer blow.
> 
> But I dunno.

I dunno either, but it's a good point. The effect isn't nearly 
as drastic and dramatic as Silly Putty or cornstarch and 
water, but it may well be a factor. It would still surprise me 
greatly if anyone could demonstrate a meaningful difference in 
tone production resulting from hanging hammers with different 
glues. If any difference at all is detectable amid the 
differences between sets of hammers...
Ron N