[CAUT] non-Steinway hammers

[Richard Brekne]

Hi Richard

If you use a hammer with the same core material as the originals then 
you should not experience much of a problem with the dead hammer weight 
your old parts will have to leverage. I'm unsure of the selection in the 
States, but over her you can get hammers in a variety of core materials. 
A Walnut core might be a good selection.

I'd be curious to know just how light your hammers are.  I just had to 
change back to more or less original specs several things on an pre-O 
Miniature from 1910 and among the things the owners did not want to 
spend money on were hammers and hammershanks.  Bass strings on this 
piano had been changed to hex core, all original action parts changed to 
equally poor selections and the action had not been balanced so I got 
them to go along with new bass strings and a weigh-off  of existing 
hammers.  Obviously it had had light hammers because there was not much 
lead in the keys... looked to be something around low mid ala Stanwood 
protocol. But I would be interested in what you have in front of you.

Cheers
RicB


    I'm about to replace a set of original hammers on a 1915 Steinway
    O.  I may have to keep the original shanks and whippens.  Given
    that  scenario, what is the best replacement hammer, natural felt
    Abel?   Are they light enough?  Are current Steinway hammers so
    heavy that  there's no way to trim them to a weight that will work
    on original  action parts?

    Richard West