This has been an interesting thread. As a proponent of Renner Blues, I'm amazed at the gyrations one goes through to make NY S&S hammers useable. All the different concoctions from Collodion & ether, lacquer, plexiglas, sanding sealer, keytops and shellac (have I left any off?) to make a hammer what it's supposed to be. I've done it and it isn't fun. I find I can get the sound I want -- and more importantly the sound the pianist wants -- with the Renner Blues doing just a very small fraction of the work that's been talked about in this thread. I realize that all this has to do with our personal preferences and what we get used to. I also know there's no right or wrong about this. I just prefer hanging Renners and taking an hour or less to make them what I want. I'm probably just lazy! dave *********** REPLY SEPARATOR *********** On 7/17/02 at 3:40 PM David Love wrote: >Bill: > >I am still inclined to opt for the higher density explanation. When you >compare a NY Steinway hammer to a Renner or Abel hammer, it seems unlikely >that you would find a different in the stiffness of the individual fibers >accounting for their tonal difference. When inserting a single needle into >each hammer it seems that the difference in felt density is evident. Abel >and Renner achieve that difference through the use of higher density felt >to >begin with, perhaps, plus the application of heat during the manufacturing >process which shrinks the felt down to a denser mass. You can see this >when >you needle the hammers and the hammer expands. You can also achieve a >louder or brighter tone on one of these hammers by soaking the hammer with >acetone. Presumably this doesn't stiffen the fibers, but causes some kind >of shrinkage which, again, makes the hammer more dense. Moreover, you can >brighten the tone in a NY Steinway hammer by ironing the felt. It is hard >to imagine how this would stiffen the individual fibers. It seems more >likely that it compacts the felt at the crown: more density equals brighter >sound. > >The fact that certain hardeners "break down" seems more a function of how >deeply the hardener penetrates. If it lies on the surface or crown of the >hammer, then as the surface wears away with playing so does the hardened >felt. This process is complicated by the fact that the same playing that >wears away the densified felt also packs the felt down underneath. So >sometimes a little bit of hardening of the crown is a nice temporary >measure >until the hardener is worn through and the natural compacting of the felt >takes over. > >It seems that what many of us are looking for is a hammer which is somewhat >more dense than a NY Steinway hammer and somewhat less dense than a Renner >or Abel hammer. One interesting experiment might be to take a NY Steinway >hammer, infuse it with an alcohol and water solution and throw it into the >drier for an hour to see if that doesn't brighten it up. I, for one, would >be happy to come up with a way to get a NYS style hammer more dense without >lacquer. Lacquer is tricky and unforgiving in some ways. I find that when >trying to build up the hammer from scratch it is important to select the >right solution for the first application. Since densifying the felt >usually >needs to be done at the core of the hammer where the felt is already the >most dense, applications of lacquer tend to seal the felt from further >penetration by subsequent applications. You don't get the same effect by >multiple applications of weak solution as you do from a single application >of the right solution. The lacquer has a tendency to build up outside the >core. Rather than a graduated density, which I think is desirable, you can >end up with a hammer that is hard on the perimeter but not necessarily at >the core. Applying lacquer from the side of the hammer helps in this >respect. On the other side, you can overdo it and apply to heavy a >solution >which can glue everything together and rob the hammer of necessary >resilience. > >David Love > >----- Original Message ----- >From: "Bill Ballard" <yardbird@pop.vermontel.net> >To: <pianotech@ptg.org> >Sent: July 16, 2002 9:21 PM >Subject: Re: Shellac vs. lacquer > > >As I understand it, reinforcers do three things, one after the other >depending on the dose. First they coat the fibers to slow them down, >thus dampening their elasticity. Next they glue adjacent fibers >together, where these are close enough to have their gap bridged by >the resin, again hobbling the felt mass's natural elasticity. And >third, and most disastrous, they fill in the air space within the >felt mass. > >I think David, we have a similar vision of what's happening inside >the felt mass. I don't think that the density of the hammer changes >significantly until the dosage has done the first two stages, and is >turning what used air space into solid resin. That's when the >compressibility is non-existent. (There is no air space in which the >compression can occur.) In the first two stages, I don't think the >amount of solids is enough to affect the density of the felt mass. >But the flexibility of the felt mass is nevertheless affected. >Coating the fibers, and gluing them together at point of adjacency >will definitely stiffen the felt mass, requiring more force to get it >to compress. > >All this talk of embalming hammers would lead one to wonder why >anyone would ever want to dope a crown. Well, with NY Steinway >hammers, unless your pianist likes their piano warm and fuzzy, it's >inevitable. You can firm up the shoulders all you want, even >including under the strike point. But the hammer and the string are a >pair of springs, and the best sound comes when the reach their >maximum deformation simultaneously. Power and projection from a NY >Steinway hammer will not emerge until the strikepoint fibers have >been stiffened (and their bending under force slowed). And if I'm >obliged to stiffen, I'd like to stiffening resin to have its own >elasticity to contribute to the hammer/string event. _____________________________ David M. Porritt dporritt@mail.smu.edu Meadows School of the Arts Southern Methodist University Dallas, TX 75275 _____________________________
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