<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> <html> <head> <meta content="text/html;charset=ISO-8859-1" http-equiv="Content-Type"> </head> <body bgcolor="#ffffff" text="#000000"> 1.5 grams from a 1/8" hole? What are the moldings made from? I mostly use Steinway hammers and a hole that size barely makes a difference. In the example pictured, the more aggressive coving netted me about .3g max, and I then had to taper the sides to get the additional .5g that I needed for this hammer. I do this freehand on a stationary belt sander. By using the part of the sander that curves around the end roller it is possible to hourglass the sides of the hammer without removing anything at the crown or making the tails so narrow that they chew up the backchecks. The reason I start with the coving is that if you try to get a full gram on the beltsander then this hourglassing begins to become visually prominent. - Mark Dierauf <img alt="" src="cid:part1.07070000.07080800@nhpianos.com" height="662" width="640"> William Monroe wrote: <blockquote cite="mid:%3C001e01c9122e$cdebad60$640fa8c0@A440%3E" type="cite"><div class="moz-text-flowed" style="font-family: -moz-fixed">Thanks David (Ron, Ed), Yes, I've done a couple samples and the difference is fairly small.  An 1/8" hole yields a net reduction in weight of about 1.5g.  Probably my biggest difficulty is that these hammers are already hung.  Waiting for Will Truitts photos.............  ;-] William R. Monroe <blockquote type="cite">You will not be able to reduce the weight that much by drilling holes. Depending on the set and the overall size of the hammer and the density of the molding, reducing note 40, for example, by 1 gram requires a full taper from end to end on both sides.  You can get proportionately more on larger hammers and less on smaller hammers. David Love </blockquote> </div> </blockquote> </body> </html>