<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=windows-1252"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.6000.16525" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV><FONT face=Arial>Mike,</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial>I tried the Baldwin process and it worked perfectly.  Thank you!</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial>Gary Fluke</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px"> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV> <DIV style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B> <A title=mkurta@roadrunner.com href="mailto:mkurta@roadrunner.com">Michael Kurta</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> Tuesday, October 02, 2007 2:58 PM</DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: Hammer softening</DIV> <DIV><BR></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Tahoma size=2>    Hi Gary:</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Tahoma size=2>    This is a direct quote from the Baldwin service manual:</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Tahoma size=2>    "For a Softer Tone:  A mixture of 25% water and 75% methanol can be applied to the hammers to produce a mellower tone in Baldwin hammers.  Care should be taken not to apply to stapled areas.  The solution can be applied to the shoulders for moderate changes or to the strike point for more severe changes.  It is recommended in most cases not to apply the solution to the top octave and lowest octave since these areas usually require more tone accentuation to be musically pleasing.  It takes about 20-30 minutes for the solution to work.  Fine voicing can then be performed with shallow needling to the hammers as needed to provide a consistent note to note tone."</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Tahoma size=2>    I've used this solution for years and found it to work well.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Tahoma size=2>Methanol BTW, is non-permanent anti-freeze and can sometimes be found at farm supply stores.  Its also found in windshield washer fluid, but I'm not sure what else is in there and the proportion of water to methanol.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Tahoma size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Tahoma size=2>    Mike Kurta, Syracuse chapter  </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Tahoma size=2>    Mike Kurta, Syracuse chapter</FONT></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>