<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> <META content="MSHTML 5.50.4522.1800" name=GENERATOR></HEAD> <BODY> <DIV> </DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE> <DIV class=OutlookMessageHeader dir=ltr align=left>-----Original Message----- From: Wimblees@aol.com [mailto:Wimblees@aol.com] Sent: Monday, December 03, 2001 1:38 PM To: caut@ptg.org Subject: Re: Lacquering Hammers Wait to Play On? </DIV>In a message dated 12/3/01 11:38:08 AM Central Standard Time, jbaird@fgi.net writes: <BLOCKQUOTE style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #0000ff 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px" TYPE="CITE">Using the acetone/keytop solution (in this case to bring up the tone of the whole piano), he brushes a small amount on the crown, then slides the action back in and immediately pounds it in while shifting into both positions. He mutes the strings with his finger while pounding--maybe just to spare his ears, I don't know. The result is a very even and slightly brighter tone. In any case, there was no waiting before playing. John Baird Millikin University Decatur, Illinois </BLOCKQUOTE> <DIV> John It would seem to me that the process of pounding is creating a brighter tone more that the lacquer. If you pound right away, I don't think the lacquer will have a chance to soak into fibers of the hammers. I also think by pounding the string hard right away, it will force the lacquer right back out of the hammer, and onto the strings. It would be like putting a brush in the lacquer and then right away hitting the side of the handle again the table. The lacquer would come right off the brush. Wim [Breakall, Raymond] </DIV> <DIV>I am new this to this forum but it is very i nteresting. I am the tech at the University of Richmond. What about the ready made hammer brightener from say Schaff? Is that as effective as the acetone/keytop solution.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Ray Breakall </DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>