basic questions

[Douglas Hershberger]

Roger,list
   I'm in So. Calif. so I guess that qualifies as the far west. I have
had good luck with steam and voicing. I learned this technique from my
friend Steve Schell: I buy those blue shop towels(thick paper) from Home
depot or whatever. As someone else mentioned, wet the towel and wring it
out pretty good. Double the towel over and place over the tops of a
section of hammers. I just use a travel type iron set pretty hot for
cotton or wool and touch it to the tops of the hammers for seconds. Just
long enough for the paper towel to get kind of white looking. You can
tell that the moisture is being sucked out of the towel and into the
hammer. BE CAUTIOUS! A little goes a long way. It seems to me like the
hammer brightens back up after a while, but not all the way. It is very
fast and a useful trick.
Doug Hershberger,RPT 

Roger Jolly wrote:
> 
> Hi Susan,
>          Nice to hear from you, love you articals, great job. Thanks for
> reminding me that I use the iron reversed. Funny how the mind goes blank at
> the keyboard.  Have you tried light touch up voicing with your iron? I'd
> like some feed back from the far west.
> Regards Roger.
> 
> At 04:55 PM 13/08/98, you wrote:
> >Rob wrote:
> >
> >>I have never considered placing a damp cloth over hammers for steaming.
> >>This is used in conjunction with a heat gun, correct? How long does this
> >>take?
> >
> >Roger can tell us, but my feeling is that the (BARELY) damp cloth is used
> >with a hammer iron, reversed, so that the convex curve touches only the
> >strike point. The advantage over regular steaming is that the steam wouldn't
> >go all over the place and affect the shoulders too. By having the cloth
> >barely damp, I would think that most of the effect would be on the
> >superficial layers. Therefore, hardening, etc., wouldn't be needed. The
> >amount of softening, in an ideal situation, would be just enough to reverse
> >the normal brightening through hard use. Hopefully, one might end up almost
> >where one started when the hammers were last voiced.
> >
> >Roger, is this the general idea you have in mind?
> >
> >I've found that steaming lasts pretty well. The heat and moisture makes the
> >fibers twist and matt, like when you wash a sweater and don't block it
> >afterwards. Wool is a very curious material.
> >
> >Susan
> >
> >
> >Susan Kline
> >P.O. Box 1651
> >Philomath, OR 97370
> >skline@proaxis.com
> >
> >"Enormous amounts of information are available, including, however, very
> >little reliable data on what it all means."
> >                       -- Ashleigh Brilliant
> >
> Roger Jolly
> Baldwin Yamaha Piano Centre
> Saskatoon and Regina
> Saskatchewan, Canada.
> 306-665-0213
> Fax 652-0505