I used to teach "Wool Science" classes. My wife is a sheep shearer/feltmaker and we spent years working with woolen industry and I learned a lot about the properties of felt. The first class I ever taught at a National was in Philadelphia in 1990 (?) I brought a miniature woolen mill into the class room and made industral felt right there. Any of you attend? I think Roger Jolley has taken the technique to new heights and I would suggest looking into his method. One problem with my teacup method is the cupping of the felt which can cause problems.... but for small doses it's fine. One experience I had was on a set of old Yamaha hammers which a number of techs had told the client to replace. I steamed them and they puffed out displaying lacerations caused by the needles actually breaking fiber. What I had then was like a soft Steinway hammer so I lacquered the shoulders followed immediately by a light lacquer on the crown and reshaped the hammers, filing off the soft damaged felt. This was 8 years ago and the piano is sounds wonderful and the client is happy. It can work miracles and you have to understand how it works and how powerful the effect is or you'll get into trouble.... David Stanwood >I too have had good results with steam on a piano with hammers that could >benefit with overall darkening. I learned the trick at a PTG convention, >demonstrated by touch weight guru Dave Stanwood. > >I use an electric teapot and hold each hammer over the spout for between >1/2 >and 1 second. Works like a charm and is a lot quicker than needling 88 >hammers. > >Matt Wynne, NY _____________________________________________________________________________________ Get more from the Web. FREE MSN Explorer download : http://explorer.msn.com
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