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This is still a practice, to develop a feeling of the hammers. The shop owner Mr. Jude Reveley will voice these hammers in piano after they are hung, the action fully assembled, and the piano fine tuned. The manual from Renner USA can be found here. The vise is purchased from Renner's website. It holds 1/3 of the set of hammers. Tie down all the little knobs so no hammers can move. Clamp the vise on the working surface for a solid needling. With a long ruler, mark the 10:30 and 13:30 line explained on the manual. Needle between 9:00 and 10:30, as well as 13:30 and 15:00. Some needles are square bodied. They can slice off and break the wool fiber causing long term damages. Some technicians find it hard to achieve the ideal tone needling with the square needles. A round bodied needle is ideal according to Fred Sturn. This is just personal opinion, though. To achieve the ideal tone for the technician, any method or tool could work. The number of stitches increases from bass to treble. The purpose is to create a springy support to the crown. After needling, the hammers are puffed. Filing is needed. Renner suggests the use of grid 220 to 400 sandpaper. The filing method here is learned from Jack Stebbins. File both shoulders from the bottom to the top, leaving the hair on top, then file off the hair. The final result is a smooth diamond shaped hammer head. Pay attention to the uniformity of all hammers in the vise. Example of before and after filing as of December 2024. The skill is yet to be improved.
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