Alcohol and hard hammers

[Alan R. Barnard]

I'd be leaping on those puppies with my modified Vice-grips (a la Wally Brooks) followed by a lightly damp rag and the back side of my voicing iron, i.e., steam.
The needle-in-a-Dremmel works well.
I'd try all those things before spending a day trying to, as one put it, "split hickory knots using a corn dodger as a wedge and a pumpkin for a mallet."
A quote for Texans: "The universal food of the people of Texas, both rich and poor, seems to be corn-dodger and fried bacon."  Frederick Law Olmsted, 'A Journey Through Texas' (1856)

Alan Barnard
Salem, MO
Joshua 24:15







Original message
From: "Geoff Sykes" 
To: "Pianotech at Ptg. Org" 
Received: 09/14/2006 8:09:38 PM
Subject: Alcohol and hard hammers


Tomorrow I have to go up against a new, out of the box, upright piano with ROCK hard hammers. I have been asked to voice the hammers down significantly in order to reduce the unpleasant brittle harsh cold sound. Last time I had to do this I just aggressively needled away for a long time. Very aggressively with lots of broken needles. Even after I was "finished" I was still unable to get a needle in more than about 1mm. 
 
Not too long ago, on the list, I read that treating hard hammers with a little alcohol would help un-compact the felt. However, these are new hammers and are probably hard because of a hardening treatment. Today's question is: Would a small alcohol treatment help? If not, what would you suggest?
 
-- Geoff Sykes
-- Assoc. Los Angeles
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