Hammers- alcohol treatment/Isaac

[Andrew & Rebeca Anderson]

Joe,
I have a Yamaha Grand to tune tomorrow that I've been thinking of 
voicing.  It has a sharp tone that hurts the ear.  Am I to understand that 
a 50/50 mix of water and denatured alcohol might save my needles some hard 
work?  Do you iron that in or just let it soak in and dry out?

Comments, anyone, on ironing a wet towel over the hammer heads and its 
affect on the piano's voice.  Would I achieve too much too fast?

Andrew Anderson
Las Cruces NM

At 03:46 PM 11/25/2003 -0800, you wrote:
>Isaac said: "alcohol on wool will make it too dry, wool have some lanolin in
>it that
>should be preserved I believe. may be when we will have 100% synthetic
>hammer fiber ?"
>
>Isaac,
>I doubt that there is any lanolin left in hammer felt, once the
>felting/pressing process is done. Alcohol w/water will only tend to make the
>felt expand sufficiently to add resilience back into the wool fiber, which
>will make the hammer more springy. This will make the hammer give a wider
>range of dynamics in playing. I have not found the treatment to have any
>negative effects, other than distorting the shape somewhat. I use this
>method, often, on "quarried" hammers with good results.
>As for Synthetic fiber being used in hammers.....?.....Nah. That would
>require some company to do R&D! Heaven forbid!<G>
>Best Regards,
>
>Joe Garrett, RPT, (Oregon)
>Captain, Tool Police
>Squares Are I
>
>
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