[CAUT] Hammers

[David Love]

As a comparison I would say not on these bellies.  A strong application to
the lower shoulders will produce something different than an attempt to wick
the same solution to within 2 mm of the crown.  That strong solution which
will reinforce the lower shoulder will not produce the same result beneath
the strike point.  Under the strike point it will be too harsh sounding.  I
don't know this particular piano but having seen many of Del's iterations
and designs I would say that you must be cautious with lacquer solutions.
The bellies are light and tend to respond very adequately with softer
hammers.  The idea that a D belly would even be close to something
acceptable with an unreinforced Ronsen Bacon hammer should be a clue as to
the responsiveness.   If you want to wick something under the crown then a
much lighter solution is in order than the one which will be used to
reinforce the lower shoulders.  At least that's been my experience.   

David Love
www.davidlovepianos.com

-----Original Message-----
From: caut-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:caut-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of Fred
Sturm
Sent: Thursday, June 24, 2010 11:38 AM
To: caut at ptg.org
Subject: Re: [CAUT] Hammers


On Jun 24, 2010, at 7:30 AM, David Love wrote:

> Also, with respect to lacquering
> in this case I would probably try an application of lacquer on the low
> shoulder where the Ronsen Bacon hammers can sometimes use some extra
> support.  That will help reinforce the structure of the hammer on a  
> harder
> blow preventing it from collapsing as much and still keep the  
> lacquer away
> from the higher shoulders and crown area where it can produce a  
> negative
> outcome on this belly.


Or, in a very controlled way, apply it to the side of the hammer under  
the crown - keeping at least 2 mm of felt on the outer surface  
completely free of lacquer. You are after the core, giving hardness  
there. A couple single needles deep afterwards is often a good idea.
Regards,
Fred Sturm
fssturm at unm.edu
"Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness." Twain