[CAUT] lacquer "flushing"

[Horace Greeley]

Allen,

Not an uncommon problem, unfortunately.  The biggest issue is, if "you" did 
not do the hardening "yourself", knowing what was used to do it.  In this 
case, it sounds like you had thinned the lacquer with acetone (which works, 
of course), and so knew what to use.  Sometimes you just have to guess. For 
me, this guessing has usually been based on examination of the hammers to 
see what kind of discoloration (if any) there might be...then, try to 
experiment a bit to see if one carrier will work better than another.

Another trick, especially useful in the shop, is to pop the stack off the 
keyframe and set it (effectively) upside down, so that the tails of the 
hammers can rest easily into the aluminum/steel trays (I usually use old 
fashioned ice cube trays).  Then the hammers can be pretty well flooded 
with whatever carrier seems best.  A nice, big fan is very useful...

Additionally, if you figure out that you are working with a hammer set that 
has been bunged up by overzealous use of keytop, you can flood the hammers 
(probably several times) with acetone, covering them with aluminum foil in 
between.  After (usually) three applications with a few hours in between 
each one, you can try blowing out the hardener from the crown down - using 
your OSHA-safe air nozzle, of course...

Your note as to the hardener presumably staying in the shoulders (unless 
otherwise forced out) is accurate; and needs to be remembered for future 
voicing reference - something that is easy to forget over time.  If I have 
to go through this much trouble to begin with, I really want to get just as 
much of the "original" stuff out before doing anything else.  Then, if 
possible, I really like to hear the instrument with whatever is left of the 
hammers to get a sense of what the voicing is like.  That helps to 
determine what to do, how far to go, etc.

This method, while time consuming in a certain way, can usually save a set 
of hammers (if it has not otherwise been too damaged...shaping/etc).  You 
have to be very careful to be sure that whatever carrier you have used to 
flush out the existing hardener is thoroughly evaporated before doing any 
shaping as if wet, the hammers will simply shred.

Anyway, it sounds as if you have recovered in fine style.  Bravo!

Best.

Horace




At 08:35 PM 8/25/2004, you wrote:
>Colleagues,
>
>I'm not certain this ideahas been discussed on the list, but I seem to 
>remember that it has, else it might not have occurred to me as a serious 
>option. I pass it on in case it might be useful for others in a similar 
>situation.
>
>I voiced a 7 year old Baldwin L for a store. A church was interested in 
>buying it, but wanted it voiced up - particularly the entire bass section, 
>which was very noticeably quieter and with a different tone than the rest.
>
>Some light keytop solution on some notes brought up the treble end nicely 
>to match the middle, but I felt that the bass needed a bigger boost, so in 
>the shop I gave it a 4 : 1 hit with lacquer. The majority of my lacquering 
>experience has been with Steinways (lots of them), and this 4 : 1 solution 
>probably would've been about perfect for that. But I'm steadily realizing 
>that Baldwin hammers react more testily to hardeners. The bass was way 
>louder than I intended when I got it back in. Mild panic set in, as 
>needling obviously wasn't curing the problem.
>
>I thought about steaming, or perhaps using the Pianotek hammer softener, 
>but didn't have either in the car. So I decided to try flushing out some 
>of the lacquer with acetone. On with the fume mask and out to the back 
>porch with a nice breeze blowing: I forcefully squirted a good half bottle 
>of acetone down onto each hammer, with the overflow going through my 
>funnel into another bottle.
>
>When they dried, I could feel that they were obviously softer. When I put 
>the action back in the piano the next day the tone was right where I had 
>intended it to be, with the bass perhaps even slightly softer than the 
>mid-section now.
>
>I imagine the lacquer in the strike point area tends to be flushed down 
>into the shoulders, with more remaining there than in the top. Which is 
>probably not a bad scenario.
>
>It had been an act of skeptical semi-desperation, but it worked perfectly. 
>The phrase "snatching victory from the jaws of defeat" ran through my head 
>as I drove home in great relief.
>
>Oh, and the bottle of acetone I used is now slightly yellow with the 
>lacquer that it pulled out. It's probably more like the ratio I should 
>have used to start with! I'll save it for some future job involving a 
>light hardener solution.
>
>For what it's worth,
>
>Allen Wright, RPT
>NKU, Xavier University
>Cincinnati
>
>_______________________________________________
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