> The story is: Steinway hammers, hardened with keytops in acetone, later > brightened by addition of flexible collodion, now the tone is "uneven." > I've not seen this piano yet; it's a long trip. What is the solvent > for collodion? Can these hammers be saved? Anybody out there have any > opinions? > Greetings, I would be prepared to soak them all in ether, outside, and hope for a set of hammers that would take a needle. My contact with someone that has been to the factory lately tells me that the hammers up there are being soaked with hardener, and then a lot of needles used. I have only had softening success with the hardened hammers from Steinway by driving a #6 needle straight down into the crown, all the way to the core. I do this first between the string cuts, ( two full sticks per trichord). Then pound it a little and listen. Sometimes I have had to needle straight down through the string cuts to get the ping out. good luck, Ed Foote
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