Hard Hammers

[Fenton Murray]

The client might not like the compressor in their home. I think there was and electric or battery voicer on the market some years back.
Fenton
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Dean May 
  To: 'Pianotech List' 
  Sent: Wednesday, April 23, 2008 9:39 AM
  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

   


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  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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