Speaking of hammers...

[Farrell]

Hey Brian. Obviously I am not an expert, but I have heard what many experts
say about this. The 12 lbs., 14 lbs., and 16 lbs. specifications reflect
weights of large sheets of hammer felt, and have little to do with guiding a
tech to proper hammer weight selection. I would suppose that if you were
using brand X 14 lb. hammers, and wanted a bit heavier one, that brand X 16
lb. would likely be that heavier hammer. But I'm quite sure that is about as
far as you can go with those numbers.

I have dealt with Wally Brooks for the few sets of hammers I have ordered. I
take a few old ones off and weigh them. Then I call Wally and talk to him
about hammer selection. He will tell me how much his various hammers weigh
compared to my originals. That way you are dealing with very definitive
terms. Perhaps other suppliers might be as helpful - maybe not. That kind of
info, and then incorporating ideas from Stanwood's hammer weight curves, I
think will help with the decision making. See where your original hammer
weights fall on the curves, figure out where you want to go with hammer
weight, and then talk to your supplier about hard facts regarding individual
hammer weights from their sets. I figure if they can't tell you how much a
couple hammers weigh from each section, you can find a supplier that can
supply that info.

Hope some of that helps.

Terry Farrell

----- Original Message -----
From: "Brian Trout" <grandrestorations@yahoo.com>
To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: Friday, October 12, 2001 6:52 PM
Subject: Speaking of hammers...


> Hi all,
>
> Speaking of hammers,...
>
> I've noticed on numerous occasions when looking
> at hammers in the supply catalogs that they are
> available with several different moldings.  I can
> understand that part of it, weight!  Hammers with
> maple moldings would definitely be heavier than
> ones made with (for instance) mahogony.
>
> But what about the felt??  It is pretty normal to
> see them available in 12 lbs., 14 lbs., and 16
> lbs. specifications.
>
> Does anybody have an explaination of specifically
> what that means in practical terms?  Is it the
> weight of the felt put into the press for the
> entire set?  Getting real basic here, if I were
> looking for a lighter (weight) hammer, would I
> want to be getting the 12 lb. set instead of the
> 16 lb. set?  And vice versa, should I be getting
> the 16 lb. set if I'm interested in a heavier
> hammer?  I know that techs are getting much
> fussier about individual hammer weight these days
> and I'm wondering if I could be reducing the
> amount of work simply by which set of hammers I
> order.
>
> I've never really heard much of an explaination
> about this.
>
> Anyone care to enlighten me a bit?  I have a
> feeling I'm not the only one who's ever wanted to
> know.  :-)
>
> Thanks,
>
> Brian T.
>
>
> =====
> Brian Trout
> Grand Restorations
> 3090 Gause Blvd., #202
> Slidell, LA  70461
> 985-649-2700
> GrandRestorations@yahoo.com
>
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