Yamaha hammers

[David Love]

I've scheduled a major voicing of a Yamaha C7 with quarried hammers for
next week and finally broke down a bought myself a cordless Dremel
(actually Craftsman $29.99) for the job.  You need to buy a 1/32" collett
to hold the needle.  An extra battery doesn't hurt either.  

David Love
davidlovepianos@earthlink.net


> [Original Message]
> From: <A440A@aol.com>
> To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
> Date: 11/6/2003 6:02:29 AM
> Subject: Re: Yamaha hammers
>
> I wrote about needling hard hammers:
> >   . . . with a single #6 needle that is almost long enough to reach the 
> core wood.  
>
> David asks: 
> > What kind of needle do you use and how do you keep them from breaking?  
> Every time I try a length longer than about 5/16", they break on me.  
>
>    I have found that you can't get the needle in, all the way, at first. 
So, 
>  I begin softening the shoulder with shallower jabs, gradually getting
full 
> penetration after maybe 15 or so progressively deeper needles.  I suppose
I 
> voice by tactile feel, first.  By now, I know what a nicely voiced hammer
feels 
> like on the shoulders, and prep them accordingly.  (note, this is NOT a 
> technique for Steinway hammers that are loaded with lacquer).  
>  
> >   The hammers are so hard that if you begin at the upper shoulder, the 
> > tension in them will tear them apart after a while. 
> > Regards,  
> > Ed Foote RPT 
>
>  
> >>Is that indeed what's happening in a hammer with lots of tension --
like 
> bending a rope sharply, then hacking at the top of the bend with a knife, 
> gradually cutting the fibers and making it pull apart?  >>
>
> That seems to be an appropriate analogy.  With sufficiently soft
shoulders, 
> graduated to real hardness under the strike point, the hammers hold
together 
> quite well and respond very sensitively to needles going in near the
strike 
> point.  
> Regards,  
> Ed Foote RPT 
> http://www.uk-piano.org/edfoote/index.html
> www.uk-piano.org/edfoote/well_tempered_piano.html
>  <A
HREF="http://artists.mp3s.com/artists/399/six_degrees_of_tonality.html">
> MP3.com: Six Degrees of Tonality</A>
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