<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=US-ASCII"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2900.2963" name=GENERATOR></HEAD> <BODY id=role_body style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: Arial" bottomMargin=7 leftMargin=7 topMargin=7 rightMargin=7><FONT id=role_document face=Arial color=#000000 size=2> <DIV> <DIV><STRONG><EM>  Hi Max</EM></STRONG></DIV> <DIV><STRONG><EM>  Even wool felt, as resilient as it is, has a life span.  It is after all, animal hair subject to the ravages of time & climate.  Refelting would be a wise option IMO.</EM></STRONG></DIV> <DIV><STRONG><EM>  Cheers</EM></STRONG></DIV> <DIV><STRONG><EM>  Dale</EM></STRONG></DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: blue 2px solid"><FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" face=Arial color=#000000 size=2> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><STRONG><EM>Hello,</EM></STRONG></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I am in the process of restoring an 1844 8' grand similar to the broadwood used by chopin in england.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>the hammers look original, or close to original and still have a good amount of felt.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I would like to keep the original felt if possible by softening the old and hardened felt in some way.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I am working with a piano tech who mentioned that re-felting would be ideal..</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I would like to see if there is some way or restoring the resiliency of the felt with steam or distilled water and a hair drier or something..</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>what would be the best way?</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>cheers,</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Max DM</FONT></DIV></FONT></BLOCKQUOTE></DIV> <DIV></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT lang=0 face="Book Antiqua" size=2 FAMILY="SERIF" PTSIZE="10"><I>Dale Erwin--Piano Restorations<BR>Modesto, Ca.<BR>Shop 209-577-8397<BR>cell 209-985-0990<BR></FONT><FONT lang=0 face="Book Antiqua" color=#000000 size=3 FAMILY="SERIF" PTSIZE="12"></FONT><FONT lang=0 face="Abadi MT Condensed" color=#000000 size=3 FAMILY="SANSSERIF" PTSIZE="12">Web site <A href="http://www.erwinspiano.com/">http://www.Erwinspiano.com</A> </FONT><FONT lang=0 face="Book Antiqua" color=#000000 size=2 FAMILY="SERIF" PTSIZE="10"><BR><B>Restoration & Sales of</B><BR><B>Steinway & Sons plus other fine pianos.<BR>Custom made soundboards by design<BR></B></I></FONT></DIV></FONT></BODY></HTML>