Hammers- alcohol treatment/Isaac

Richard Brekne Richard.Brekne@grieg.uib.no
Wed, 26 Nov 2003 09:40:56 +0100



Andrew & Rebeca Anderson wrote:
> 
> 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?
> 
> 


I would use more like a 80 to 20 mix... 20 % water. Much more forgiving.
Especially if you've never done this before. And dont soak the
suckers... just drip in about 5-6 drops down the shoulders, the idea
being to avoid more then minimal amount getting in under the crown area.
Puff up the shoulders all you want, but leave the crown hard... Reshape
and needle as usual afterwards.

I've seen even grossly overdone jobs return to cast iron hard given
enough time and play. But if you soften the crown area.. my experience
is that the hammers will just wear right out.

I like Rogers Steam voicing better then this water alcohol trick... tho
I've used both with success. Still... even with hard hammers... I find
that needling is in the end the best... tho I didnt always think that
way.

Cheers
RicB


-- 
Richard Brekne
RPT, N.P.T.F.
UiB, Bergen, Norway
mailto:rbrekne@broadpark.no
http://home.broadpark.no/~rbrekne/ricmain.html
http://www.hf.uib.no/grieg/personer/cv_RB.html

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