Ah but Paul, do you hang hammers this way now? And what did you do at the convention...best class etc? Sorry I couldn't make as I have a community performance group/hall I volunteer with and commitments... David I. *********** REPLY SEPARATOR *********** On 2/25/01 at 7:30 PM larudee@pacbell.net wrote: >Sorry, I've been at the CA convention the last few days and just got >back. Avery's >description agrees with what I recall from Pris's class, and I did not >mean to >imply that the method ever includes putting new hammers on old shanks, if >that is >what anyone understood. > >However, the method involves reference to the "space" swept out by the >hammer as it >moves between the hammers on either side. This means that there are >hammers on >either side to start with. They can either be old hammers or new hammers. > If they >are new hammers, they cannot both be glued hammers because there would >have been no >reference to orient them, so at least one of them would have to have been >dry >hung. The only other choice is to use the old hammers for reference. In >Pris's >class all the parts were new, although the end hammers of each section >were somehow >prehung for reference, perhaps intended to represent old hammers. > >The more I think about it, the more I think Avery is right that Pris's >method did >not involve using the every-other-hammer method. However, I'm pretty sure >we dry >hung the hammers and then glued them using the previously glued hammer and >the >following dry hung hammer for reference. > >It's actually a very efficient method that makes few demands in the way of >jigs, >measurements, sightlines, etc., and gets the parts squared and aligned >very nicely >except for the final hammer-string alignment. It may sound >counterintuitive and >complicated on paper, but if you ever try it (as in taking Pris's class), >it >provokes a "Eureka!" because of its ease, simplicity and coolness. > >Paul S. Larudee > >Avery Todd wrote: > >> Paul and others, >> >> OK. I'm going to attempt this. I've known Pris & Joel for 20 yrs. or so >and >> have done >> quite a bit of work with them. Paul, as I understand it, you're the >closest >> to explaining >> her method. One problem though. I've never heard Pris advocate dry >hanging the >> hammers or hanging every other one and I KNOW she never leaves the old >> hammers and shanks on and install every other one. >> >> I've had her glue several sets for me over the years and that isn't the >way >> she does it. >> Yes, she dry hangs the guides (tightly) but from that point on, they're >> hung consecutively. >> Even though they may "look" crooked after gluing, after I do the normal >> traveling, they are >> normally very straight and I have very little burning to do . >> >> Her whole point is that it isn't NECESSARY to pre-travel the shanks in >> order to end >> up (after normal traveling) with reasonably straight hammers. She does >> check them >> and travels any that are grossly out prior to hanging but does not try to >> "fine" travel >> the shanks prior to hanging. >> >> This is the whole problem with using a jig to hang hammers. When one does >> that, >> one HAS to do a lot of pre-traveling or else there is a LOT of burning to >> do later. I >> know. I've bought pre-hung hammers and there is a lot of traveling and >> burning to >> do once they are installed, so even though I don't know for a fact, I >can only >> assume that a jig of some kind is used to do that. >> >> It's very difficult to explain in words and as Pris has told me, to most >> people, it's >> very difficult to grasp the concept even in a class. You have to ignore >the >> "traveling" of the hammer and pay attention to the "air", "light", >> whatever, between >> the top and the tail of the hammer when gluing. If that space doesn't >> change when >> you lift the hammer with the jack, even though it might LOOK like it's >> glued on >> crooked, once it's traveled correctly, it will be straight. If it's glued >> on so it "looks" >> straight, as when using a jig, once you do the traveling, the hammers >are then >> crooked again and you have to do a lot of burning to straighten them up. >> >> Pris isn't saying that pre-traveling isn't a good way to do it, >> necessarily. She's only >> saying that it isn't "necessary" because once the hammers are hung, you >> usually >> have to go back and do a good bit of traveling anyway. I've tried to use >> the "lines >> drawn on a piece of wood" method of pre-traveling but I just have never >> been able >> to get it so accurate that I didn't have to go back and spend just about >as >> much >> time as at the beginning in traveling after the hammers are hung and if I >> can avoid >> it, I really hate having to do the same job twice. :-) >> >> I really do understand the method in my mind but I've probably not done >a good >> job of explaining it in words. Hope this makes a little sense to some. >> >> Avery >> >> P.S. Does E for Effort count? :-) >> >> At 09:57 AM 02/22/01 -0800, you wrote: >> >I guess I missed a couple of messages at the beginning of this thread, >but >> >Pris's method (the one she used doing factory work in Germany) is as >> >follows (to >> >the best of my recollection), and ideally involves no squaring/burning, >> >although >> >mere mortals may find a bit necessary nonetheless. >> > >> >1. Mount the shanks without traveling them. >> >2. Dry hang the hammers, roughly squaring them. >> >3. Glue hang every other hammer, orienting it such that it sweeps the >same >> >amount of space on either side during its travel between the adjacent >hammers. >> >The hammer may have to be tilted slightly to do that if its travel is >not >> >vertical. What this achieves is an orientation that is perpendicular >to the >> >axis of travel, though not necessarily vertical until traveling has >been done. >> >4. Repeat step 3 for the remaining dry hung hammers. >> >5. Travel the hammers in the normal way by shimming the flanges. >> >6. Square/burn the hammers as needed, although if the other steps have >been >> >done perfectly, this step will be unnecessary. >> > >> >When replacing old hammers and shanks, the variation would be as follows >> >(pardon >> >the repetition): >> > >> >1. Mount every other shank without traveling them, leaving the >remaining old >> >hammers and shanks in place. >> >2. Glue hang the hammers, orienting them such that each sweeps the same >> >amount >> >of space on either side during its travel between the adjacent hammers. > The >> >hammer may have to be tilted slightly to do that if its travel is not >> >vertical. >> >What this achieves is an orientation that is perpendicular to the axis >of >> >travel, though not necessarily vertical until traveling has been done. >> >3. Travel the new hammers in the normal way by shimming the flanges. >> >4. Square/burn the hammers as needed, although if the other steps have >been >> >done perfectly, this step will be unnecessary. >> >5. Repeat the above for replacement of the remaining old hammers. >> > >> >I am of course leaving out a bunch of detail not particularly relevant >to the >> >method, but I hope it shows the idea. As far as I know, Pris never >advocated >> >burning as a method of traveling, and I agree that such a method does >not >> >compute. >> > >> >Paul S. Larudee
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