<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; = charset=iso-8859-1"> <META content="MSHTML 5.50.4134.600" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV> HAMMERMAKER’S CORNER 12   Ari Isaac.       I belong to the group of people who trust only data, information, = they themselves can prove, to their own satisfaction and by their own = investigation, to be valid or true – a pain in the butt, to less rigorously = inquisitive folk. I’m not in a popularity contest so that part never bothered me = very much. Where this relates to my making hammers is that now, in 1984/5 I decided to = develop the excellent hammer felt sheets I was getting, to limits set by me, = rather than going on what I was being told even though the man I was cooperating = with was and is the most knowledgeable mand in the field of hammer felt = production. I can talk tone to Earl Dunlap and he can relate it to wool fibers in a hammer = felt sheet; you might say he can hear the different tones eventually produced = by the variety of hammer felt sheets he has to craft for hammer makers, merely = by knowing the wool blend and makeup of a given sheet, without hearing the = hammers installed in the pianos. I’ve never known someone with a = comparable skill, I consider myself very fortunate to have been working with earl these many = years. "Let’s make this felt as springy as you can make it" I = suggested to Earl one day and he being the amazing man he is, agreed. The felt sheet, or = sheets, he next xent me wer so springy the strips would not stay closed around the = hammer moldings. The hammer press we had designed is the strongest in the = industry, it has 90 tons of pressure available to apply to pressing the felt. After = leaving the hammers in the press for 24 hours, the felt opened, it did not want = to stay glued to the moldings. I tried something else; I placed a 50lbs weight = on the felt sheet about half way from bass to treble and left it there for a = few hours. When I lifted the weight there was no sign of a depression. I tried = 100lbs – same result. I knew we had gone too far in the spring department. Earl = next made up a sheet that was slightly less springy – it stayed = closed… almost completely but not good enough. This felt was still a touch too springy. I = cautioned Earl to reduce the spring in the next sheet ever so slightly, this time it = stayed closed. I discovered I had to leave the hammers in the press for longer = – a price I’m willing to pay, it has huge dividends for the tonal = results. I called Earl to thank him and to inform him that this is the sheet I = would be using from then on. The spring in the felt has two direct effects; an = automatic color range and a far longer hammer life span. </DIV></BODY></HTML>