Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Tuner-Technicians Forum damper felts on grand pianos

I'd say 5-6 hrs to replace, 7-9 hrs to regulate... clean the wires while your there, will make the reg go smoother, no chance of a wire hanging up on old marks...

You would think they would sell FLAT treble damper felt pre-cut or in strips wider than 3/8". Looks like one has to buy strips and cut the WIDTH as well as length of each FLAT felt. I find that precut 3/8" wide FLATS are not wide enough for some pianos.

Yep. The pre-cuts are mostly good for modern instruments post 1945.This is why the felt guillotine is a good tool to have. The felt strips they sell are like hammer sets. They virtually come as blanks; then you shape them according to the original hammer you have.

Regarding the felt guillotine, I immediately take out the blade supplied with this device and replace it with one of those long Olfa exacto knife blades, the ones that you snap off the end when they get dull. The edge is better and the blade is longer……watch the fingers….Unfortunately you cannot get the hollow ground blades any longer. NIOSH formally asked this company to cease production of those….

It takes a little while to get used to cutting a straight line with this device because the felt tends to crush down when pressed. A certain technique to keep the cut line straight…..

You might ask the supplier that you use if they would make a special run for your job there and cut them a bit wider. But suppliers like to do volume for cutting up stuff like this……not sure they would be happy just doing a few sets.

Thanks for that info, Dan, I see on the web where they sell a Tokiwa Grand Damper Felt Set already pre-cut. Do you know anything about it?

My apologies ranger I am not familiar with that item. Perhaps someone else will be able to offer an opinion on that one.
Or better still ask the supplier for the dimensions via email or something......

No problem, Dan. I started experimenting cutting my own. Also I noticed that if I have some imperfections (areas that protrude), using a battery-operated clothes shaver nicely shaves away those imperfections...

Good stuff ranger a little creativity and ingenuity and you will discover all sorts of processes that you can use to make the job look good and professional. It is the attention to detail that makes a good job….. I never thought of the electric shaver………good one there.

For cutting a straight line I usually crush the felt down right beside the cutting edge with a small flat bladed knife. This way the felt is under the same amount of pressure so the cut remains straight. Also another tip if you turn the felt around end to end each time you cut……maybe somebody else has some other ideas?

Not sure a regular electric shaver would work, but a clothes shaver, used for removing lint and fuzz from clothing works nicely...

Dan, are you saying to press down on both sides, then cut? kinda like doing insulation.

Yes and yes. That is what I meant……………… the clothes shaver……… I’ll have to get one….…… and yes to the pressing down of the felt on both sides like doing the insulation. If the pressure on both sides is equal to the pressure of the blade then the cut will end up straight.
This is only in reference to the thick flat (treble) damper felt that comes in strips with or without backing and uncut. The bass wedge felt is easy to cut laid on its side…..
Need a picture of the small hand guillotine setup? Let me know………..

Sounds gruesome!

and I've got small hands...oh boy...I assume it's like those sold at Schaff?

On Grands, since the dampers are not spring-loaded, I understand there's some ringing when installing new dampers. I hear the ringing only in the strings where I used trichord dampers (double-wedge). How long does it take for the felt to give in? I guess it depends on the type of felt?