Advice on softening rock-hard hammers, please.

[Dave Nereson]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "gordon stelter" <lclgcnp@yahoo.com>
To: "Pianotech" <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: Sunday, August 01, 2004 1:46 PM
Subject: Advice on softening rock-hard hammers, please.


> Dear list,
>     I am about to attempt softening some
> metallic-sounding hammers on a "rebuilt" Chickering
> 1908 grand in a church. Much talk here recently has
> been on squeezing with pliers, which I would like to
> try, but not much specific information has been
> provided on where, and how, this should be done. {
> Please help me with this information. )
>    I would also appreciate some opinions and
> guidelines regarding the "hammer softening" liquid
> which Pianotech sells.
>     Your advice would be gratefully appreciated,
>
>      Sincerely,
>      Gordon

    Drugstore isopropyl is OK.  No, don't dunk.  Just apply liberally along
the shoulders with an eye dropper, syringe (no need to inject; just
dribble), or hypo oiler.  Try a few drops on a scrap hammer to see how far
it soaks in, just to get an idea, then do the lowest bass hammer to see how
close the liquid gets to the crown, and adjust how much and where you apply
from there.  You can apply the liquid right on the crown if it needs it, but
you'll have to wait for it to dry, then see what the effect was.  In my
experience, you can dribble it on fairly liberally -- about 4 to 8 drops on
each shoulder, depending how easily it soaks in.
    Or use Vise Grips and squeeze the hammers on their sides at around 10 to
11 o'clock and 1 to 2 o'clock, with the jaws pointing in towards the
moulding.  Adjust the screw so the jaws stop closing after the hammer's been
squeezed in 1/16" or so, unless you feel like you have control of how far
you're squeezing.  If no effect, re-adjust so the hammers get squeezed a
little more, or squeeze a little closer to the crown, but not right under
the strike point.  You can fine-voice later with needles.  If you're wary of
softening too much, find a really harsh, hard hammer and squeeze just a
little bit at 9:00 and 3:00.  Shove the action back in and see if it's any
softer.  If not, move up to 10:00 and 2:00 and try that, and so forth.
Usually you won't go too far unless you're squeezing around 11:00 and 1:00
AND compressing the hammer too much.  Squeeze just enough to see the felt
move at first.
    Or use steam right on the crown.  Pass the crown of the hammer into the
jet of steam from whatever steam source you're using just for about 1
second.
    Or wet a cotton handkerchief or piece of old T-shirt and wring it out so
it's damp but not sopping.  Heat up a hammer iron and when it's hot (if you
touch it to the damp cloth, it should go "Tssst!"), lay the damp cloth,
folded in half, across the crowns of half a dozen hammers, then iron them,
passing the iron back and forth over the crown maybe twice or thrice -- move
quickly so you can do 4 or 5 hammers before the iron cools down too much.
Using a different area of the damp cloth, move up to the next few hammers,
re-heat the iron, and do them.  The time-consuming part is continually
re-heating the iron.  Maybe they make electric ones that stay hot.
    --David Nereson, RPT