At 15:48 -0700 17/10/08, David Love wrote: >I wonder too if the problem isn't so much the type of press but the >level of production that the large suppliers have to maintain and >the need for a quicker way to set glues (read heat) on the hammers >which changes the consistency of the felt. The time available for the glue/cement to dry/cure/set is limited on production machinery (since say 1880) only by the number of removable caul sets or clamps available to the hammer maker. A set of hammers does not need to occupy the press any longer than it takes to apply the pressure, lock the clamp and remove it. When Dolge wrote, "it is estimated that two expert gluers can cover about two hundred and forty sets of hammers in ten hours on one machine". Those were the days!! JD
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