Dave, I steamed my first set of hammers just yesterday..for lack of a better term, Asian 'rocks' at the end of a hammer shank. the results were very pleasing. As to your question about 'what happens over time' with steamed hammers'?...well, the hammers in question here are in my shop attached to a piano I recently re-strung. The piano is going back to the dealership that I do work for, so I will be following this piano around for awhile..I anticipate that the longevity of this procedure rivals that any other hammer softening technique that we know of, including Alcohol/Snuggles(my other choice of hammer softening). In your post, you mentioned NOT re-shaping hammers before steaming..I did on the hammers in my shop..I got a better tone after re-shaping and then I steamed them and got even better tone after that. I recommend re-shaping first before steaming. My breif experiences exposed, roo(k)
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