[pianotech] regulation problem

[William Truitt]

Hi Jim:

I can't say that I am a light hammer guy, but I have been boring, tapering,
coving, etc. etc. hammers for action rebuilds and full rebuilds for 25 plus
years.  Like other action rebuilders, I have worked on just about everything
from about 1865 on.  Like so many others, I started doing all this custom
hammer prep work to give me a degree of control over the process that not
even our best suppliers can provide for us.  Part of my reasons were based
on the desire to have the hammer dimensions honor the optimal set up as
completely as possible, also to have control over the weight of the hammer
to the desired effect - certainly not wanting to lead any more than
necessary for reasons of inertia.  And to control the weight of the hammer
for tonal reasons.  Particularly in the treble, the weight of the hammer has
an effect on the tonal quality.  A very light hammer, all else being equal,
will sound thin although you may gain more sustain.  You don't want it too
heavy or too light, what is optimal depends on the piano and the hammer
itself. Where you have the need, experiment with extra hammers from your
chosen set before committing yourself to the process you will use.

As I mentioned in my earlier post, all of my jigs are fully adjustable to
take off as much or as little as I want.  My coving jig on my oscillating
spindle sander has an adjustable depth stop, so that I can leave as much or
as little meat as I want in the cove (there is a point where you need to
stop, though, as the tail can become thin and fragile)  I have tapered
hammers on the side to as narrow as 6 mm. at the bottom of the tail, usually
I taper to about 7.5 or 8 mm. You can make the top of the hammer narrower if
needed. The tails are cut to a length that will mate to the backchecks well,
usually about 1 inch.  

With these methods alone, you can remove a surprising amount of weight from
the hammer before committing yourself to removing felt by cutting or the
method described below.  And, of course, you begin controlling the hammer
weight by the hammer you choose from the supplier.  

Also, I have used a jig in my drill press with a sanding drum to freehand
remove felt from the circumference of the hammer when I deemed it necessary.
If I am doing a whole set or a section, I put the hammers in a gang jig and
then clean them up with a  wide strip of sandpaper (120, 220, 400 grit).
This step I rarely do with the hammers I have been using in recent years,
since most of the pianos I work on are less than 120 years old and do not
have the kind of hammer requirements that the older beasts do.  With older
pianos with aggraffes to 88, you sometimes have to remove felt from your
hammer on the back side to clear the belly rail on the backside and/or the
front of the plate on the frontside, as the replacement hammers are often
too fat.  I would greatly prefer this method to cutting, it can be very
controlled, and you can take off just what you need and no more.  

Good results for one can be less than desirable results for another.  We are
in the area of personal taste and schools of sound here, so the ear that
ultimately has to be satisfied is your own.  

I say start experimenting with some throwaway hammers and play with it to
find where you want to be on the continuum. It will be a fun learning
process.  

Will



-----Original Message-----
From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf
Of jimialeggio
Sent: Monday, April 05, 2010 10:03 AM
To: pianotech at ptg.org
Subject: Re: [pianotech] regulation problem

Hi Andre....by the way thanks for your voicing book....now how about 
that bit on hanging hammers that you mentioned in the book???

André Oorebeek wrote:
> In the case of older Steinways I send away the original keys and key 
> frame to a keyboard factory in germany and I have them replace the 
> balance rail a bit to the back.
> That gives me the right leverage I need for a brand new action.
>
Actually as I indicated in my original post, I did in fact redesign this 
action/keyboard to allow the use of  modern weight hammers with 
appropriate leverages, and it worked nicely. 

My musings on what "earlier", softer, lighter, currently unavailable 
hammers might allow this instrument to sound like was looking at the 
question from a different perspective.  "Modern" tastes in piano tone 
have optimized power as if tonal power were a holy grail.  I challenge 
this tonal assumption...actually dissatisfaction with the tonal 
assumptions inherent in modern piano tone inspired me to become a tech.  

Having listened to and been entranced with earlier tastes in piano tone, 
and also having heard a very, very few modern instruments where sustain 
and singing tone, rather than power characterized the tone, I was 
curious how this piano, which geometric evidence suggests was designed 
with a different tonal pallete in mind, would sound with an appropriate 
hammer. Alas, appropriate hammers for this leverage are no longer 
available, so my  musing continued, "what if we mess with the hammer's 
brain?"

I do wish someone with experience in the Lighthammer technique would 
chime in here.  What Andre says about the felt "excavation" producing, 
in a short time, a  less than  well rounded tone makes intuitive 
sense...but there are people messing with hammers in this way and 
reporting good results...any chimer inners?

Jim I



-- 
Jim Ialeggio
grandpianosolutions.com
978- 425-9026
Shirley, MA