Richard, Quoting richard.ucci@att.net: > Horace, thanks for the advice, would steaming the hammer be in order? In my experience, steam is basically useless against plastic/polymer hardeners. The hardener needs to get back into solution (as much as it can). Too little acetone and the hardener will not move; too much and it runs out and/or pools up in places where the acetone does not sufficiently penetrate. Also, with the commercial solutions, it is very hard to tell just how much hardener is in any given amount of solution. You'll kind of have to experiment, giving time for acetone to liquify the hardener again (to the extent that it can under the circumstances). > I > would have to use a steam kettle( don't yet have an iron,getting one next > week )in the clients home. ...not sure I would waste the time. Others may have other experience. One thinge for sure is YMMV. Best. Horace > > RU > > > > > > Hi, Richard, > > > > Quoting richard.ucci@att.net: > > > > > Horace, > > > > > > I believe it is acetone. It was the standard hardener sold by > > > Schaff,undiluted. > > > > I was afraid of that. This limits your options pretty severely. > Basically > > to two, with the main differences being how much time your (and the > owner) > > have and the non-musical state of things. > > > > If you have time, that is, if you can arrange to make a couple of trips > > > back, I would try dripping some acetone into the strike point and > allowing > > it to dampen, but not deeply penetrate the hammer. Put a piece of > aluminum > > foil over the hammer to retard evaporation a bit. With luck, if the > hammer > > is not too saturated, you should be able to leach some of the hardener > out > > of the immediate area of the strike point (and farther down the > shoulders > > of the hammer). Depending on what the outcome of the first application > > > shows, you might either then go to needles or use a second application > of > > acetone. > > > > If you do not have time (and, these days, who does?), you can try to > > reestablish some resiliancy in the crown area of the hammer. Depending > on > > how hard the hammer has become, you might be able to use 1, 2, or 3 > > needles, roughly 3/8" long and work carefuly to restore things. > > > > Hammers need to work like progressive-rate coil springs. This means > that > > they must be increasingly dense (less resiliant/pliable) as one moves > from > > the surface toward the molding. Doing too much, too deeply destroys > the > > core of the tone leaving you with mush. Doing too much, too shallow > leaves > > a hammer which may sound OK at pp/p/mp, pretty blasty/nasty at FF and > have > > very little range inbetween. > > > > At this point, you might want to be prepared to brighten up some of the > > > surrounding hammers (a small amount) to help with evening things out. > > > > As a FYI based on years of painful experience, I virtually never > "voice" > > only a single note, or selected notes for a client. In almost every > case > > that I have been asked to do that, the real request is to make the > > instrument compensate for the technical shortcomings of the player. > Ask > > them to play several different pieces, scales, perhaps some etudes. > That > > way, you can get a much better picture than if they always are playing > with > > their fourth finger on, say, a leading tone which harmonically needs to > be > > accented, but for which they do not have the strength. Obviously, I > might > > wind up doing precisely what they have asked for, but only after I have > > > worked out for myself that making the change makes sense for the > instrument > > in question. > > > > Also endemic with many owners of smaller S&S models is the need for the > > > poor 5'7" M to sound like the ~9' D they used to play in their > > undergraduate days/whatever. It simply isn't going to happen; and > getting > > into that is pretty much always a losing proposition for the > technician. > > > > Hope there is some help in there for you. > > > > Best. > > > > Horace > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Hi, Richard, > > > > > > > > A little more information, please: > > > > > > > > What kind of hardener did you use, what did you use as a carrier > > > (thinner), > > > > what was the approximate strength of the solution, etc.? > > > > > > > > There are a number of approaches, most of which will depend on > this > > > kind of > > > > detail. > > > > > > > > Thanks. > > > > > > > > Horace > > > > > > > > > > > > Quoting richard.ucci@att.net: > > > > > > > > > Hi Folks, > > > > > > > > > > Tuned an "m" today and the client wanted the a-440 note a little > > > louder. > > > > > Used some hammer hardener ,about eight drops from hypo oiler on > > > > > shoulders( I was pressed for time to get to next tuning) and > > > striking > > > > > point. Hammer got VERY LOUD... I am going back tomorrow to bring > it > > > down. > > > > > Any suggestions? > > > > > > > > > > Rick Ucci/Ucci Piano > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > > > > pianotech list info: > https://www.moypiano.com/resources/#archives > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > > > pianotech list info: https://www.moypiano.com/resources/#archives > > > _______________________________________________ > > > pianotech list info: https://www.moypiano.com/resources/#archives > > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > pianotech list info: https://www.moypiano.com/resources/#archives > _______________________________________________ > pianotech list info: https://www.moypiano.com/resources/#archives >
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