<html> <body> Hi David,               Besides ventilation ;-).   Reduction of mass to reduce the woody knock, and improve the singing quality of the sound in the high treble.    A variety of techniques have been used over the years.   Cedar shanks, swagged or tapered shanks, soft maple moldings, tapered hammer heads. I am assuming this was only done in the extreme treble? Regards Roger At 01:43 AM 4/13/2005, you wrote: <blockquote type=cite class=cite cite="">Greetings, At our PTG Chapter Meeting this evening, we looked at a Steinway upright piano #32811 which is in the PTG Foundation Museum at the PTG Headquarters in Kansas City. Can anyone answer the question... what is the purpose for the holes in the hammer moulding?  These holes in the hammers start beginning with note D#5 and continue throughout the rest of the treble section. Thanks, David _______________________________________________ pianotech list info: <a href="https://www.moypiano.com/resources/#archives" eudora="autourl"> https://www.moypiano.com/resources/#archives</a></blockquote> </body> </html>