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<DIV><FONT face=Arial>Dean,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>Yours is a good question. Of course, isopropyl
alcohol is available in drug stores everywhere. Most of it seems to be
somewhere at around 70% strength, the rest water. I bought a quart of
Denatured Alcohol at Home Depot and used that. Somewhere in the cautionary
notes on the can it said it contained methanol. Here is American
Heritage's Dictionary definition of Denatured Alcohol:</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>"Ethyl alcohol to which a poisonous substance, such as
acetone or methanol, has been added to make it unfit for consumption."
</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>I used the Denatured Alcohol on the piano because I
had yet to learn the definition of Denatured Alcohol. Also, the
precautionary note on the can said "contains methanol". </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>I used it on a piano I own so that if there was a problem,
it wouldn't become a customer's problem. So, it turns out that, on a Kawai
UST-5 anyway, the ethyl alcohol works great.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>My guess is that the poisonous methanol is added so that
people should die drinking it rather than forgo paying a tax on their
buzz.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>Gary Fluke</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
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<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=deanmay@pianorebuilders.com
href="mailto:deanmay@pianorebuilders.com">Dean May</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> Friday, October 05, 2007 5:34
AM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> RE: Hammer softening</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=921093312-05102007><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff size=2>I am going to try this. Can any of the chemists comment
on substituting a different kind of alcohol? Everclear could be easier to get,
or Isopropyl. </FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV align=left>
<P class=MsoAutoSig><B><FONT face="Bradley Hand ITC" color=navy size=6><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 22pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: 'Bradley Hand ITC'">Dean</SPAN></FONT></B><FONT
color=navy><SPAN style="COLOR: navy"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
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w:st="on"><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=navy size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: navy">Dean
May</SPAN></FONT></st1:PersonName><FONT color=navy><SPAN
style="COLOR: navy">
cell 812.239.3359 <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoAutoSig style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT face="Times New Roman"
color=navy size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: navy">PianoRebuilders.com
812.235.5272 <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoAutoSig style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City
w:st="on"><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=navy size=3><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: navy">Terre Haute</SPAN></FONT></st1:City><FONT
color=navy><SPAN style="COLOR: navy"> <st1:State
w:st="on">IN</st1:State> <st1:PostalCode
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<FONT face=Tahoma size=2><B>From:</B> <A
href="mailto:pianotech-bounces@ptg.org">pianotech-bounces@ptg.org</A>
[mailto:pianotech-bounces@ptg.org] <B>On Behalf Of </B>Michael
Kurta<BR><B>Sent:</B> Tuesday, October 02, 2007 5:58 PM<BR><B>To:</B>
Pianotech List<BR><B>Subject:</B> Re: Hammer softening<BR></FONT><BR></DIV>
<DIV></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>