<HTML style="FONT-SIZE: x-small; FONT-FAMILY: MS Sans Serif"><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2900.2802" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY id=role_body style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: Arial" bottomMargin=7 bgColor=#ffffff leftMargin=7 topMargin=7 rightMargin=7> <DIV> <DIV><FONT face="MS Sans Serif">Terry,</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face="MS Sans Serif"></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face="MS Sans Serif">I hope Ray is willing to taper the moldings to achieve lighter high treble hammers.  Sounds like a number of listers would be interested in having this change - I certainly would.  The last set of upright hammers I installed, the original C88 was 3.8g, the new C88 started around 7, and with all the tail modifications could only reduce it to around 5.  As in your photo, the real source of excess weight had felt wrapped around it, maiking it inaccessible for modification.  </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face="MS Sans Serif"></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face="MS Sans Serif">A colleague, who is a light hammer obsessive, tapers on a router table, using a template that severely tapers the low shoulder, then comes back out to full width at the shank bore, then comes back  in to continue the severe taper down into the tail.  He says it requires a hard-pressed hammer to withstand the loss of felt in the low shoulders.  For that reason, I've never tried it, not wanting to change hammer makers in mid-stream (mid-life?).  Might be interesting to try in the top section, where there is some bare wood between the shank and the hammer shoulder??</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face="MS Sans Serif">Getting back to the hammer maker, I'm guessing that thinning the molding in the high treble would introduce pressing problems:  would have to adjust felt thickness or caul shape, moldings might be weakened enough to break during pressing, etc.  Let us know what Ray says.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face="MS Sans Serif"></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face="MS Sans Serif">Mike</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV></DIV></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid"> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt Arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV> <DIV style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B> <A title=mfarrel2@tampabay.rr.com href="mailto:mfarrel2@tampabay.rr.com">Farrell</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To: </B><A title=pianotech@ptg.org href="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org">Pianotech List</A></DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> 4/5/2006 8:24:08 PM </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: Upright Treble Hammer Weight</DIV> <DIV><BR></DIV><FONT size=2> <DIV><FONT size=3>snip:</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3>Examining the new hammers a bit closer, I see that the mouldings are the same dimensions on A0 and C88 - the bass hammer has a shorter moulding of course, but the other dimensions are the same. I'm going to inquire with Ray over at Ronsen and see if they taper the dimensions of their hammer cores.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3>Terry Farrell</FONT></DIV> <DIV> <DIV><EM>  </EM></DIV></DIV></FONT></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>