Flexible collodion for voicing hammers

[A440A@aol.com]

  >     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