Voicing down hammers

[David M. Porritt]

Phil:

Fabric softener!  6 parts of isopropyl alcohol 1 part Snuggle.  Brush it on
the strike point with an artist brush - don't soak them - unless the brush
full didn't do it.  Hammers that hard take serious tools.  I've done some
Baldwin 243s in a 30 square foot practice room and it helps.

dave

____________________
David M. Porritt, RPT
dporritt at smu.edu
 
-----Original Message-----
From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf
Of Phil Bondi
Sent: Friday, November 02, 2007 4:42 PM
To: Newtonville
Subject: Voicing down hammers

Hi all.

I recently met up with a set of Imadegawas that 
needed to 'whisper'. The reason for the whisper 
is because there's a player system attached to 
it, and of course, it's too loud.

I was surprised at how much Acetone and 
Controlled Steam voicing these hammers were able 
to take...but.

They're still as hard as concrete and they're 
not whispering yet. They're still too hard for 
needles. I soaked the hammers 4x in Acetone and 
steamed them 4x and 5x in the bass.

That seems like alot for any hammer to take, and 
they're still rock hard.

Any suggestions..short of changing them out, 
which is not an option?

Thanks,

-Phil Bondi(Fl)