<html> Hey Bill,    What's the budget? You can make a huge difference in half an hour, you know. Clamp 'em up, and file the tar outta the felts. Go to a fine grit, and possibly iron a bit, too. Brightens them up a bit, and like Ed says, aids the perception of the player. Also, you can reshape the tails while they're clamped-up with a right angle grinder and a 50 grit wheel. Take it slow, floating across the tails, and bring 'em down to as thin as you feel safe. Quick results, right there on the front porch (or garage) unless your shop is nearby. Teflon the knuckles anyway, and maybe consider a bolster job if they're out of round. Bolstering changes-up the half-hour job, of course. What kind of music does the owner play? Later, Guy Nichols At 04:24 PM 2/16/2004 -0800, you wrote: <blockquote type=cite class=cite cite>I have a clients' grand action, an old Gulbransen. Someone has put on new hammers, and the other parts are in good condition, the ivory keyboard is in exceptionally good condition. He has carpel tunnel, and is complaining about the "heavy" touch. I played on it, and it is heavier than I would like myself. I measured the downweight with gram weights, and it averages 55 grams +. I took the job, but need some advice. There does not seem to be excess friction in any of the action parts. It is my opinion that the hammers are too heavy. They were installed several years ago, but look almost new. They have a "fuzzy" look, that makes them look as if they are "right out of the box." They may not have ever been filed. The tails looks as if they have been barely shaped for the back checks, not the long curve that is typical. I can see lots of wood that can be taken off. I bought a gram scale so that I could maybe achieve some consistency in the wood removal. My neig! hbor has a band saw, and I have a disk sander. I think I could do the wood removal, measuring the weight as I go. Having never done this job before, what advice can you give me?   Bill Yick, Rpt Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Finance: <a href="http://us.rd.yahoo.com/evt=22055/*http://taxes.yahoo.com/filing= .html">Get your refund fast by filing online</a> </blockquote></html>