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I'd have a hard time tuning that piano accurately with those hammers coming apart. I can see why Andy chose to repair the hammers first.

But then, I'm old school and tune by ear...

Looks good, although if you're going to all that trouble I think it makes more sense to replace the entire strap - it would actually be less work, plus the entire strap will eventually deteriorate and fall apart anyway, not just the ends that need reinforcement.

You can buy a new set of straps and catchers for very little money; remove the old catcher shanks, use hot hide glue, and have new straps at a consistent length, new catcher leather, and catchers that will be click-free for many years.

Regarding the hammerhead repair, I have been using the trick that Emmery shared a couple of years back with great success:

1. Use whatever clamp works to secure the felt over the molding as it would have appeared from the factory. (You will keep the clamp on until the very end of the procedure.) Get the felt as tight as possible against the molding and be sure it won't slip. Once that is done...

2. drill a hole just large enough to fit a plastic cable tie through it; you will be drilling through one side of the felt, then the molding, then keep going out through the other side. The smaller the hole the better.

3. Clip off the end of the cable tie that functions as the "lock" and set aside for the moment.

4. Ignite the end of the cable tie that you just clipped the "lock" from. Extinguish and quickly flatten the plastic on a hard surface you don't care about, or against a piece of cardboard on the floor. The idea is to make that melted end "mushroom" so that it will pull one side of the felt tight against the hammer molding without slipping through the hole you drilled.

5. slip the cable tie through the hammer and once completely through, attach the cut off "lock" and secure. Use pliers to ratchet the lock as tight as possible on the tie, and it will pull the assembly together. Once ratcheted as tightly as possible, snip off the excess cable tie coming through the lock. Unclamp and you are done.

If you do this correctly the tone should be just as good as neighboring hammers that are still intact. There is no need to use any glue with this method (which fails more often than not in my experience.) I've done this repair six or seven times and it works great -Thanks Emmery!

Sorry but the tension in a hammer is located even around the underfelt, the staple is a security. cosmetically it should work but just o point of fixation seem really not enough to me.

about the glues, hide glue develop as much inner strain to chip the glass, I don't know another glue that does that (but only some glue in sheets I baught from an old stock does, it is stamped "extra strong", takes a long time to gel and is , indeed, extra strong I am really pleased I have find it, while it may be 50 years old)

Hey, at least I'm not breaking strings all the time when I tune!

(Kidding, OperaTenor! Kidddd-ding!!! I can be a trouble maker, too, you know... )

Thank you, everyone, for your contributions to this thread. I've learned a ton from you, and now I hope to learn some more. (Ready OperaTenor?)

Here are two recordings I made today on the 1952 Cable 40" Console. On Friday, I installed the action and tuned it up (I tuned the bass by ear...). Then, on Monday, I did a regulating pass and touched up the tuning some more. Today, I touched up some of the regulation, then, when the mall got quiet enough, did these two.

Have at it. Please let me know what you hear. I know there are a few bad dampers making icky noise. What else do you hear that I might need to address?

Handel Keyboard Suite No. 2, Adagio

"Ivy" by Hoagy Carmichael


Thanks in advance for your critiques!
--Andy

Hi , thanks for the recording, that sound very strange, but not surprising, the hammer have gained some firmness but allow zero tone lenght, it diseappear so fast, it is amasing.

It could be a good exemple of hammers that loose their tension by overneedling or felt getting really old, as the tension loss effect is really what strikes when listening.

minimal clarity, but the tone is a little mufled too, then as no power is given from the start, the slope is extra straight and highly slanted , you could try to analyse with SPEAR or a similar software, you will see how the spectra dissipates (evaporates)

I am unsure the felt is glued or no, if it is glued, I would try impregnation, with a thick product around the core in basses, a thinner in the mediums. probably 2 or 3 passes and inserted from the side. BTW hide glue was used for hammer impregnation in early years of piano making (I have read that, never tried myself)

If not glued, I believe no gain is to be expected, as the felt will only retract on itself a bit and harden.

Even on yet glued and stapled heads, pinching the bottom and impregnating the hammer while pressed raise a little the tone "lenght" (power of FFF mean the same) while the spectra does not change much (no more high partials)

That is the moment to experiment and analyze what we hear in regard of the actions on the hammer; it will serve in normal voicing, as dealing with power is subtle, we perceive it ion the way the envelope behave, and by the vibration motion perceived under the fingers - easily in basses and low medium, but the perception is replaced by listening once you are used to feel that part of tone, higher in the treble.