Susan -
Glad to hear of your success using shellac as a voicing tool. I have
been using it for more than 6 years with very good results. Try the
"super blonde" flakes for introducing less color.
When mixing, I just place flakes in a jar, cover with alcohol by a couple
inches, and let sit overnight. Then stir well. No need for double
boilers unless you're in a hurry. A super low tech way is to set the jar
on a box fan that vibrates alot..... the mixture is homogenized in no
time!
Also, I have found that shellac mixed up fresh from flakes to be good for
app. 6 months, although after about 4-5 months I usually pitch it.
Mark Potter
bases-loaded@juno.com
On Fri, 28 Jul 2000 09:08:48 -0700 Susan Kline <sckline@home.com> writes:
> Ron's talk about juicing hammers reminds me that maybe
> it would be good to relate my own experiments with juicing.
> Maybe someone will have some insights on what I've been
> doing, or would like to try it themselves and tell us
> how it worked.
>
> I am just slightly kinked when it comes to using toxic
> materials. I like to avoid them as much as I can, even
> when they aren't really all that bad, and are used in
> small quantities. My exception is CA glue, but I only
> use a few drops of that at a time.
>
> So, I'm not keen on keytop in acetone for two reasons:
> (1) I hate the spicky sound, and (2) I don't like
> breathing acetone, or introducing it into people's houses.
> To add to that, I tried just a few drops of fairly weak
> keytop solution on a few hammers of my favorite (i.e. --
> ONLY) Baldwin SD-10, and I haven't been able to make
> them match the rest of the hammers since.
>
> Sanding sealer in lacquer thinner: I don't dislike the tone
> as much, but lacquer thinner is still not all that nice to
> breathe.
>
> Well, I heard that Steinway used to use shellac on their
> hammers, dripping it on from the side. They would stand
> the stack on end, and swing the hammers out one at a time,
> drip the shellac into them, then turn the stack over, and
> do the other side.
>
> Also, I heard that over time, keytop in hammers will, if
> anything, harden, but that eventually under heavy playing,
> shellac will break up and get softer, and therefore it is
> easier to needle later on. I liked the sound of this.
>
> I believe that Steinway didn't choose shellac for
> esoteric reasons or the search for a perfect voicing
> material, but simply because their cases at the time
> were finished with shellac. They changed to lacquer
> when the case finishers started to use it. In other
> words, they would just grab what was at hand.
>
> So, wanting to try shellac, I bought some ultrablonde
> flakes online. ( woodfinishingsupplies.com ) It is
> important, with shellac, to make it up fresh, because
> over time it gets gummy and won't dry properly. The
> flakes are added to alcohol, so <grin> of course, I
> used bulk grain alcohol ("Everclear" or "Clear Spring")
> from the liquor store. This stuff is 190 proof, so it
> has very little water in it. The juice made with it
> dries quite quickly.
>
> I found that to get the flakes to dissolve without
> matting at the bottom of the baby food jar I put them
> in, I needed to put the jar in a pan of water on the
> stove (at "warm") for a few minutes.
>
> I'm still working out "cut" ... that is, the best weight
> of flakes per ounce of alcohol. I just tried a medium
> amount, like a not very thick shellac you would use on
> furniture or priming a soundboard.
>
> The drawback of shellac is that it puts little color
> in the hammers, which one would have to warn owners about.
> I'm going to try the "bleached" shellac later and see if
> it is any lighter. However, a side benefit of this drawback
> is that one can see exactly where the shellac was used,
> and how far it has seeped.
>
> The leftovers will also make a nice finish on whatever
> odd bits of wood you have lying about, and brushes clean
> up easily in alcohol.
>
> For hammers, I put the shellac in an old (clean) dropper
> bottle which had held echinacea tincture. Labeled it, of
> course. The bottle seals well. I then put it in a ziploc
> bag. Of course, it should not be kept long ... after a
> couple more weeks I'll toss it and start over.
>
> I have used it, so far, on the top seven hammers of a
> Steinway A (rebuilt) which remained woolly sounding even
> after other juicing. I took them off the action (since it
> was easier than taking the stack off the keys) one at a
> time, dripped the juice into the shoulders from the sides,
> put them back on, and waited a few minutes. Then I listened,
> and added two or three drops directly to the strike point
> of two hammers which remained soft-sounding. This was about
> a month ago.
>
> I saw the piano yesterday. I really like the results. The
> hammers were bright but not obnoxious, and were fairly
> uniform. The tone blended well with that of the rest of
> the piano. I could see a faint beige color on the
> hammers, though.
>
> On this same piano, the first capo section was terribly
> bright and zingy. I helped the zingers some by fiddling
> with the wire, but it still had too much "tang" sound for
> the rest of the piano. So, yesterday, I added a little
> vodka to most hammers in the first capo, on the front
> shoulder.
>
> I found it instantly effective, really, too effective.
> I may need to juice up the shoulders a little bit later,
> though I'll start by using a hammer iron on them.
> I didn't add all that much, but more than a couple of drops
> may make the tone mushier than one would like. I'm trying
> adding it at different places on the shoulders, and if
> that doesn't soften enough, putting just a drop or two on
> the strike line. I think it works like steam, which it
> greatly resembles, but without the nuisance of removing
> the action and setting up a kettle, or getting out a
> hammer iron and press cloth. No steam burns or hammer
> iron burns, either. (Don't ask me how I know about them ...)
>
> I still need more experience before I can tell how to
> reverse the vodka softening, or how it lasts over time.
> For now, the tone seems good if a little soft-edged, and
> I'm leaving it for about six weeks, to see whether it
> brightens with heavy playing, which this piano gets lots
> of. The owner tried it, and can take the present (not
> extreme) softness in stride. I told him that if it starts
> to annoy him, just to say the word and I'll come and iron
> them and maybe juice them.
>
> Vodka does seem much pleasanter than tearing the felt
> with needles, though (and no blood on the hammers),
> and it won't leave any foreign material (like Downy)
> behind.
>
> Best to all ... corroboration or rebuttal welcome.
>
> Susan Kline
>
>
>
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