Steinway hammers: was Re: Re: 1969 Steinway L CBS?

[Ron Nossaman]

> The quality of
>the hammers was awful IMO and the average difference between the hammer bore
>and shank diameter was so great that the hammers literally rocked on the
>shanks as much as 7-8 degrees.

The hammers are hung in the factory in a jig that holds them vertical,
positions them on the shanks, and maintains the intended angle. The guy
hanging them goes about a hundred miles an hour, slathering on the glue,
spinning on the hammer, and plunking it down in the jig so everything lines
up as intended. He doesn't have time to fine-tune the fit (hence the loose
drilling), and you don't have the jig (hence the need for closer drilling
tolerances. They say they use hide glue for this, but it sure doesn't look
like any hide glue I ever saw. It's very nearly the color of maple, which I
assume is intended so they don't have to worry about being neat with the
glue application. Glue slop doesn't show, and doesn't detract from either
looks or performance, and they've always lacquered their hammers to get
sound out of them as far as I know. By their criteria, it ain't broke. I
don't characteristically have trouble with loose Steinway hammers, either
new or old (does anyone out there?), so their boring and gluing methods
seem to work very well for them. They just don't for you or me. 


Ron N