Hard Hammers

[David Love]

Sounds good.  And while you're replacing the broken shank, just glue on a
softer hammer.  

 

David Love
davidlovepianos at comcast.net
www.davidlovepianos.com 

-----Original Message-----
From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf
Of Dean May
Sent: Wednesday, April 23, 2008 9:39 AM
To: 'Pianotech List'
Subject: RE: Hard Hammers

 

Here is an idea for a needling tool. Someone who has too much time on their
hands and likes to modify tools could build one for the rest of us. 

 

What if you took a small air nailer, say for brad nails, and modified the
end of the piston that pushes the nail head so that it would accept and
capture a single needle? With a single pull of the trigger it should easily
fire the needle as deep as you want it to go and the spring loaded piston
would pull it right back out. The business end of the nailer could be set up
with an adjustable foot that could control the depth of penetration. 

 

The advantages would be the ability to get lots of deep needle penetration
on hard hammers without wearing yourself out. It would also probably incur
minimal stress on the hammer molding and glue joint compared to traditional
needling. 

 

A hand operated staple gun might also work which would give more
portability. 

 

Dean

Dean May             cell 812.239.3359 

PianoRebuilders.com   812.235.5272 

Terre Haute IN  47802

 

  _____  

From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf
Of erwinspiano at aol.com
Sent: Wednesday, April 23, 2008 11:03 AM
To: pianotech at ptg.org
Subject: Re: Hard Hammers

 




  Hi John
  Petrified felt,  yes indeed a, Paul Bailey coined phrase.
   I've tried the Dremel many times & find it rather useless, but hey they
can't be worse. I simply marvel at the lack of interest many piano makers
have in tone as is evidenced by what they call piano hammers. Those who
purchased the inexpensive pso simply need the paradigm shift that they got a
bargain that they now need to invest in to make it a legitimate instrument.
Like getting a great car cheap that needs a tune up & further performance
enhancement. Ok....adequate car
  All our heroic voicing efforts in these cases as I see it.... are not our
problem.
 I of course, suggest a hammer transplant as usual.
  A for effort John
  Dale

>...then perhaps its your general needling approach that needs adjusting.

 

Sometimes needles won't work at all.  Last week I was servicing a Wurlitzer

grand with petrified hammers. A needle would not penetrate and squeezing

with parallel pliers felt more like a piece of wood than felt.

 

I used a damp cloth and an iron on the shoulders and a little on the crown.

This relaxed the hammer enough to be able to squeeze the shoulders with

parallel pliers.  It was still plenty loud but the piercing edge was now
gone.

 

I'm considering voicing with a fine drill bit and a Dremel tool on slow
speed

so as not to scorch the fibers. Maybe this will create small gaps for the
fibers

to expand into and ease the density. It certainly couldn't hurt these HSO's.

-- 


Regards,

Jon Page

 

HSO: Hammer Shaped Object

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