<HTML><BODY style="word-wrap: break-word; -khtml-nbsp-mode: space; -khtml-line-break: after-white-space; ">Wim,<DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>I'm sure it gets warmer than 120 degrees. Just think about it. It gets hotter than 120 degrees in a car on a hot day in summer in Kansas, but I have never been able to twist a hammer under those circumstances.</DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>If you are only moving the hammer 1 or 2 degrees, why take the chance? Just twist the shank. If the Rappaports do it, then there must be something to it...</DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>Sincerely,</DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>Gary Mushlin, RPT</DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV><BR><DIV><DIV>On Mar 29, 2006, at 6:38 PM, <A href="mailto:Wimblees@aol.com">Wimblees@aol.com</A> wrote:</DIV><BR class="Apple-interchange-newline"><BLOCKQUOTE type="cite"> <FONT id="role_document" face="Arial" color="#000000" size="2"> <DIV> <DIV>In a message dated 3/29/2006 1:17:00 PM Central Standard Time, <A href="mailto:garym@PIANOSERVICE.BIZ">garym@PIANOSERVICE.BIZ</A> writes:</DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: blue 2px solid"><FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" face="Arial" color="#000000" size="2">I used to heat the glue joint to align hammers, until I found out that Titebond begins to break down at about 120 degrees, and loses half its strength at about 150 degrees. I got this info from a technician named Tom Patten in his class concerning fire damage to pianos. My understanding is he got this information from Franklin, the makers of Titebond. I assume this applies to other glues as well.</FONT></BLOCKQUOTE></DIV> <DIV></DIV> <DIV>It would be interesting to see how hot the glue joint becomes. I use a Weller heat gun, and put the nozzle about 2" or 3" from the glue joint. Then I do as Ed does, although I don't hold on to the shank with pliers. I sort of "swipe" at the glue joint until I can feel the hammer move. After all, in most cases, we're only talking moving the hammer one or two degrees, so it is not going to take much heat to loosen the glue joint. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Wim </DIV></FONT></BLOCKQUOTE></DIV><BR></DIV></BODY></HTML>