Role of the Staple on a hammer

[David Love]

As I mentioned, I don't think that the staple necessarily holds the felt to
the molding.  The glue itself is adequate for that.  I've not seen glue
joint failure on hammers with staples pulled and I have seen it on hammer
with staples still in place.  I think the integrity of the hammer that
Brooks refers to is the tension in the felt.  Over time I have noticed that
the staple tends to become more embedded suggesting that the felt expands or
wants to release tension in that part of the hammer.  On heavily lacquered
hammers the felt is bound together by the lacquer and the hammer is not
really a tensioned hammer anymore and this progression won't happen.  Thus,
with Steinway style hammers that are heavily lacquered I don't think the
staple plays a role this way.  Moreover, with the staple removed it is
probably a good idea to apply a heavy dose of lacquer to the lower shoulder
down in the area where the staple normally resides (Terry).  Don't let it
creep under the crown where it can influence the tone but it's probably a
good idea to bind the felt in that region if it has no other support.  That
will remove one's ability to purposefully release tension from that area by
needling which can serve to actually strengthen the crown of the hammer but
it's probably a worthwhile tradeoff.  

 

One other question is just how substantial does the staple need to be to
hold the tension in the manner described.  Staples come in all sizes and I
wonder how heavy the gauge needs to be to do the job.  Abel and Renner
staples are quite heavy.  Steinway staples are not but considering the role
of the staple in a Steinway hammer it probably doesn't matter.

 

David Love
davidlovepianos at comcast.net
www.davidlovepianos.com 

-----Original Message-----
From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf
Of Barbara Richmond
Sent: Monday, October 27, 2008 9:17 PM
To: Pianotech List
Subject: Re: Role of the Staple on a hammer

 

Hi David,

 

I've taken staples out--only because other people told me I could...and
well, I believed them.  :-)   At the CERS this fall, Wally Brooks told a
fellow that the integrity of the hammers was destroyed (can't remember his
exact words, but he got pretty excited about it) when folks remove staples
to control hammer weight.   I figure Wally probably knows something about
hammers...

 

Anyway, I'd be interested if anyone had ever had a hammer spring open (some
time, sooner or later) after removing the staple.  Guess I'll be crossing my
fingers about those staples I've removed in the past--though I think most of
them had a bunch of lacquer holding them together.  

 

Barbara Richmond, RPT

near Peoria, IL

 

 

----- Original Message -----
From: "David Love" <davidlovepianos at comcast.net>
To: "Pianotech List" <pianotech at ptg.org>
Sent: Monday, October 27, 2008 9:50:40 PM GMT -06:00 US/Canada Central
Subject: Role of the Staple on a hammer

An older subject but I've been meaning to comment on this.  A few things
have been written about whether the staple is necessary to secure the glue
joint on a hammer.  While I do agree that the glue does most (if not all) of
the work holding the felt to the molding, I think the staple does play a
role in maintaining the overall tension in the felt.  Hammers without
staples must resort to reinforcers (which I have done on occasion) or some
application of heat to stabilize this region.  I think the use of heat to
create stability has a potential downside in that too much will simply
remove tension from the felt rather than reinforce this area in any
particular way.  For that reason, I'm not yet ready to abandon the use of
the staple.
     
David Love
davidlovepianos at comcast.net 
www.davidlovepianos.com




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