[pianotech] damaged hammers

[Paul McCloud]

I'd bet it's mice.  They run back and forth while peeing, and that's what's on the hammers, and what's rusting the strings.  Check the hammer springs and other parts in the action.  The clincher is the smell.  You would definitely notice that nasty urine smell.   Especially since you say there's no evidence of excess moisture coming from anywhere.  Remove a bunch of keys and you may find droppings or other evidence, or in the bottom of the piano.
Paul McCloud,
    San Diego


----- Original Message ----- 
From: Jude Reveley/Absolute Piano 
To: pianotech at ptg.org
Sent: 11/04/2008 6:28:40 PM 
Subject: Re: [pianotech] damaged hammers


Chris,

Denatured alcohol and acetone will eat away at certain brands of hot pressed hammers. These chemicals are sometimes used by techs as an agent for delivering fabric softener to voice a piano down. Any spillage would also cause rust on the plate and strings.

Jude Reveley, RPT
Absolute Piano Restoration, LLC
Lowell, Massachusetts
(978) 323-4545
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://ptg.org/pipermail/pianotech_ptg.org/attachments/20081104/b080c04c/attachment.html