<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1">
<META content="MSHTML 6.00.6000.16640" name=GENERATOR>
<STYLE></STYLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY bgColor=#ffffff>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Al: Frankly, it depends on the type of hammers.
Many pianos have very hard hammers, which seem to want to return to a state of
hardness. Steaming seems to be a temporary fix for a lot of these hammers.
Squeezing the felt with vise grips seems to have a more lasting effect.
YMMV</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Patrick C. Poulson<BR>Registered Piano
Technician<BR>Piano Technicians Guild</FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>