<!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>I believe the bean bag is to hold the dampers while tightening the screws, it saves some of the re-adjust, re-tighten circle of refinement that we go through on installing dampers. I've never heard of weighting down the heads to seat the felt, that sounds destructive to me but is just MO.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Using blocks of wood of the same dimension as your damper felt to dry fit the damper heads before gluing on the felt can be a big help in getting felt to seat properly. All that's left is the left/right alignment of the felt which can be accomplished by installing the damper with the glue wet and making small corrections in the alignment before the glue sets. Another way is to set the felt in position on the strings and then lower the damper down on top.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Fenton</FONT></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=wimblees@aol.com href="mailto:wimblees@aol.com">Willem Blees</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=pianotech@ptg.org href="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org">pianotech@ptg.org</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Sunday, May 25, 2008 2:02 PM</DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: Seasoning Dampers</DIV> <DIV><BR></DIV><WBR>I think Spurlock sells a "bag of beans", that can be placed on top of the dampers to weight them down. Personally I have never used anything to weigh them down. If any pressure is needed to make sure a damper fits right, I just use a finger. I believe the weight of the damper lever should be enough to properly seat a damper. But, as Joe mentioned, you have to make sure the strings are level. <BR><BR>Just my 4 cents worth.<BR><BR> <DIV style="CLEAR: both">Willem (Wim) Blees, RPT<BR>Piano Tuner/Technician<BR>Honolulu, HI<BR>Author of <BR>The Business of Piano Tuning<BR>available from Potter Press<BR>www.pianotuning.com</DIV><BR><BR>-----Original Message-----<BR>From: Bob Hull <hullfam5@yahoo.com><BR>To: 'Pianotech List' <pianotech@ptg.org><BR>Sent: Sat, 24 May 2008 5:46 pm<BR>Subject: Seasoning Dampers<BR><BR> <DIV id=AOLMsgPart_0_382f3f17-7fb0-4311-8d80-e0b10932c45b style="FONT-SIZE: 12px; MARGIN: 0px; COLOR: #000; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, Sans-Serif; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #fff"><PRE style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt"><TT> Dear Friends, In my early training for rebuilding pianos, I was taught to make a moderate set of weights to place on top of the damper heads for newly installed damper felts. I used a couple of pieces of pvc pipe with a small block of wood on top to put on the new dampers with the intention of helping the new felt conform to the string. However, a couple of weeks ago a well-respected tech said that other techs and he shared the opinion that this practice caused problems for them, actually deforming the felt due to the extra weight. I feel like I am spending more time than I should to get a new set of dampers working effeciently so I tried this. At least on the piano I just finished, I had better results without the seasoning weight. What are your experiences regarding this practice? Thanks, Bob Hull </TT></PRE></DIV> <DIV class=aol_ad_footer id=u8CA8CC1C1502FC7-2238-2E5><FONT style="FONT: 10pt ARIAL, SAN-SERIF; COLOR: black"> <HR style="MARGIN-TOP: 10px"> Stay informed, get connected and more <A title=http://mobile.aol.com/productOverview.jsp?productOverview=aol-mobile-overview&?ncid=aolmbd00030000000139 href="http://mobile.aol.com/productOverview.jsp?productOverview=aol-mobile-overview&?ncid=aolmbd00030000000139" target=_blank>with AOL on your phone</A>.</FONT> </DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>