<HTML><HTML>Avery,         I have heard of sugar coating ham= mers, however, old upright hammers (we're talking about 100 year old piano t= hat has possibly never seen a needling job in its life, sure sounds that way= , anyway) are so hard that I first do deep shoulder needling then I needle t= he crowns to a lesser degree.       I think sugar coating just wouldn't last. In = other words the fibers would tighten and/or re pack, if you will, rendering = the needling service nill, over a small amount of time (of course, how soon = this would happen depends on how much playing is done, daily)        No, I have never tried steaming hammers= . I'd be concerned on hammers this old that they would "unravel" "unwrap" fr= om their cores. Julia, Reading, PA </HTML>