hammer juice

[Susan Kline]

At 02:52 PM 9/4/2001 -0500, you wrote:
>Susan,
>What is your recipe?  You must like it alot.
>
>Brian Doepke
>doepke@fwi.com

Shellac -- get the ultrablonde flakes, to minimize color. But, you know, 
the color is a mixed disadvantage, since you can use it to tell how far 
your juice is seeping.

I use bulk alcohol from the liquor store, 190 proof. It dries fast. I 
haven't really worked out weights and measures yet. I just make it up 
fairly thin, like what I'd use on furniture if I were going to do a lot of 
coats.

I really like the sound I get, and how easy it is to needle later, and how 
wholesome the ingredients are. Also, although I haven't had to do this, I 
have the feeling that if one overdid the juicing and had to remove some 
later, shellac would be very soluble, and easy to soak with alcohol and 
then blot up with a rag.

You work out a dilution, and tell me what you like. It would be interesting 
to see what would happen using it for new unjuiced hammers, using Ed 
Foote's method. So far I've used it to brighten up Steinway treble hammers 
which sounded a little wooly, with just a few drops up near the strike 
point, but slightly to the rear of it. I also saw Steve Brady do this with 
shellac just before a concert, with excellent and quick results.

Susan Kline