Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Forum Hammer felt repairs. Advice Please

Hi all,

I have just purchased my first piano, it is a 1970's 'Cable' Upright. It seems to be in fairly good working order except some of the hammer felt tips are missing or coming off. I can't seem to find anywhere to purchase new tips and I would prefer not to have to replace all the hammers, any advice?

In most instances hammerfelt separation is indicative of more serious problems.

Have you had a tech evaluate the pianos?

"hammerfelt separation is indicative of more serious problems."

Hi Steve, I don't think so, just the felt separating from the hammers. Any advice?

Hi,
Go to http://www.aptta.org.au and find a qualified piano technician in your area. Your Cable was made by American Aeolian, and hammer felt separates from their wood cores on occasion. Severe climatic conditions (very high or low humidity, heat, sound familiar?) can make this more likely. A piano technician can replace the set of hammers, if the condition of the piano is otherwise OK.

Hi all, I have bought this piano as a project so I can learn how to do this stuff myself for the rest of my life. Its clear there are a lot of Piano Technicians on here that would prefer I help out their industry but I live in rural Australia and I doubt any of you will fly in to help.

Its is very hot and humid here in the summer months, I have no doubt that the glue has just deteriorated, however there are also a few of them missing. The advice I am after is whether or not I can purchase the hammerfelts separately (can't find any online), or if I need to replace all the hammers. I would prefer not to replace the hammers as they, along with the rest of the Piano, appear to be in good condition.

Cheers

I have two hammers that have separated pretty bad on my 1980 Baldwin Hamilton. Others have smaller cracks I hope to seal very soon in hopes that nothing worse starts. Florida is hot and VERY humid, and I bought it from a dealer selling pianos out of a self-storage garage.

I've been thinking of finding some small C clamps and try gluing them back on. Just today I've been tuning the piano, and I thought, what the heck, I'll give a shot at those two hammers with some PVC pipe glue- I use this quite successfully for sneaker soles coming off, though it is expensive and I don't always have it around .

Anyway- I didn't have much luck with a quick attempt. The round applicator from the PVC cement was not good at getting the glue into the felt, and wouldn't hold. The felt seems to absorb quite a lot of it- Clamps are definitely needed if regluing is possible at all.

Later after I'd put the glue away I was testing tune, and two keys suddenly were moving as one- a spot of the glue had gotten on the top of the key levers, but a knife easily cut through the millimeter or so of material.

New hammers are available I think, and I think it's sometimes possible to get the shanks out without cutting them, and gouging the wood out, but good luck getting any advice here without getting your head cut!

Thanks for sharing Harpon, from reviewing much of the other threads I see there are not very many helpful posters on this site, mostly self/industry promotion, very sad to see. I have never seen a more negative unhelpful forum on the entire internet. I have been mistaken for assuming I would find enthusiastic, helpful people willing to share their knowledge on a subject they love...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Solid-Wood-..._DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2ed5b26190

You can get these on ebay from china

Right now this bass size seems to be the only one listed, but I've seen some high trebles from their listed with Asian hammer butts and shanks all for 5 or 6 dollars.

Occasional used hammers or odd hammers come up- I;ve searched that on ebay just to see what's out there.

Heres a whole upright set:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Upright-Pia..._DefaultDomain_0&hash=item462cdfa18a

The technician's forum is the place where people would have knowledge about repairing or replacing hammers. This forum is mainly frequented by pianists, and most of us don't do our own repairs.

And some technicians don't help DIYers much. But I don't think it's the reason you think. Pianos are complex, and I think they don't want their advice to lead to unsatisfactory results.

Thanks a lot Harpon!

And fair enough musicpassion, but I say let people make their own mistakes, it seems many just have the robotic response of pay a technician.

Dingo, if what you mean is that the felt that wraps around the wooden hammer core has separated, then it is easily fixed and is a common fault.

Remove the hammers from the piano to make the job easier. I prefer to use a urethane type glue, such as Tarzans Grip Mega Bond, but I am sure that others glues will work providing that they do not soak too quickly into the felt. I clamp the felt back using a clamp and wedge shaped wooden block so that the clamp does not slip. Leave overnight. Trim away excess glue with a chisel.

Usually it is the upper hammers that come apart like this because they often do not have staples.

You can remove the old hammer heads with a flush cutter:

http://www.pianopromoproductions.com/resources/Upright%20Hammer%20Replacement%20PDF.pdf


Good Luck.

What sort of problems, Steve?

HAHA Yes, I think he was playing me for a noob fool Phlip. How felt can be indicative of anything I don't know...This is one of the reasons I want to learn myself as I couldn't trust a technician like that...

I would need evidence that Steve had done any such thing. He has a lifetime's experience in the trade and is extremely honourable. I have seen him offer to help people, at his own expense, who have bought a piano from another dealer but who have a problem.

I asked him because I respect his opinion.

Beachdingo,

Steve was trying to be helpful. When felt becomes loose this is an indication that the piano has been exposed to excessive heat and moisture. This means that the other glue joints are also suspect. The same advice also applies to loose veneer. Any time there are loose pieces on the outside there are loose pieces on the inside.

Fair enough, yes heat and humidity are a factor. Call me pessimistic, but it was a very generalised comment that could have been expanded on just a little if the intent was to be helpful.

He suggested that you contact a technician. It would be impossible for any of us here in piano cyberspace to inspect your piano with the necessary thoroughness to identify the problems. We have to operate at bit on theory and your hammer felt problem falls into the category of a major clue to problems.

It's not that technicians don't want to help but many technical issues really require an on the spot inspection. Also there are many different types of repairs for any one issue. These vary dramatically depending on the age of the piano, the model, the value, condition of the instrument, its past history and current location and relative conditions. The appropriate repair for a $100 old upright and an $200,000 concert piano with an identical problem can vary by thousands of dollars.

Adding to that is that even when well meaning owners try to do their own repairs, if they don't plan on continuing with other pianos the tooling required is so specific that a call from a technician who has thousands of dollars in the correct tools is cheaper.

Owners of the piano are just that. If they want to try to correct problems without the aid of someone who is trained to do the work it is at their own risk. Many pianos of low value really can't be hurt in value by a bad repair job because they are worth nothing now. But a distinction needs to be made so that people who really do have a valuable instrument are not misled into trying something that will be very expensive to repair if done incorrectly.

The typical piano with detached hammer felt, in my experience, will be a budget piano from the 1960s/70s, and the particular hammers seem to look like there was hardly any glue in the first place. I think it is more a quality symptom rather than an environmental issue, so there may be other problems looming in the piano beside the hammers. But in this case you can only fix what has gone wrong at take it from there. Replacing all the hammers is an overkill unless they are completely worn out and the piano is worth it.