I agree that using needles requires that the technician develops a feel for how the needles are going in. If I find I have trouble getting a three needle voicing tool to penetrate to the depth I want, I use a single needle and I press the needle in. Also my particular voicing tool has adjustable needle depth giving me lots of choices there, too. Secondly, a technician needs to know that there are gradations of force that can be employed. The most aggressive would be one that I first learned in one of Laroy Edwards' classes. He advocated stabbing the three needle tool hard into the felt, so hard that the needles bottom out and the base of the voicing tool slams into the hammer felt as the needles stab to full depth into the felt. He said that technique not only opens the felt with the needles, but shocks the felt as well. The opposite extreme, is carefully pressing one needle slowly in. The technique and aggressiveness that will work best is determined by feel. It's useless to pummel a hammer if the needles bottom out easily with hardly any pressure. Likewise using three needles that won't go in to the depth needed, may not get good results due to lack of penetration depth. One needle might be better. In summary, it's helpful to entertain a variety of needle insertion choices that can be employed and make judgments based on the feel of the needles going in. Richard West On Jun 5, 2010, at 10:26 AM, Fred Sturm wrote: > On Jun 4, 2010, at 10:04 PM, David Love wrote: > >> Are you suggesting then that when you press the needles in you are >> actually >> feeling for the gaps between the fibers? I agree that fewer >> insertions to >> achieve the goal is better the more insertions and I suppose it >> could be >> argued that generally the press method will result in fewer >> insertions. >> Beyond that, however, I don't think I'm inclined to go for the >> mechanics of >> fiber response to press versus stab as the reason. I do think >> that it's >> probably better for the less experienced to use the press method. >> For >> someone who has achieved a level of skill for hitting their mark >> and at the >> desired depth I don't see any reason not to use the stab method. >> I think we >> may agree that generally speaking the press method will yield >> better results >> with less damage but I'm not sure if we agree as to the reason. > > > No, certainly it is impossible to feel the gap between the fibers, > and the needle is so large relative to fiber size that it is always > going to tear some while going in. I am simply saying that a > somewhat slower insertion will tear less fibers and will produce > more spreading of fibers. Also, that with a slower insertion I can > feel what is happening, and feel the condition of the felt (both > initially and as the voicing proceeds) much better. For me, the > tactile is probably as important as what I hear in deciding what to > do, if not more so, and I need as much information as I can get. > Also, starting with the needle at the surface of the hammer, I can > achieve more precision with where it is inserted (usually with the > help of a finger of the hand supporting the hammer). I find it more > efficient in the long run to know that I have absolutely certainly > inserted a needle in every 2 sq mm (or whatever) of X surface of > the hammer, rather than be pretty sure I might have, as with the > most precise stabbing I have been able to accomplish. Maybe you are > much better at precise motor skill in that area than I am. > I should clarify that I am not slow. I work pretty rapidly, and > probably finish a hammer in the same amount of time as a stab > method would require for a pretty skilled voicer. Also, I am not > really wanting to say that people who press are better voicers than > people who stab. I am simply pointing out a certain way of looking > at the question of voicing, one that I have arrived at after a lot > of experimentation (including plenty of stab voicing, and even a > bit of glovers - though I NEVER use glovers needles any more. There > are other methods that yield better results and are less > destructive for those nasty hammers). > Regards, > Fred Sturm > fssturm at unm.edu > http://www.youtube.com/fredsturm
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