Juice (was: M&H questions)

[Greg Newell]

Susan,
    I'll take it on faith that all that vodka and Everclear is really
for piano work. Do you ever have any difficulty convincing the local
constabulary of this when they see it in your car?
:-)

Greg Newell


Susan Kline wrote:

> 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