Hammer Felt

[Phillip Ford]

>Phil wrote a very good post about felt:
>>       And in a previous post I was trying to convey the idea that the
>>makeup of the felt itself is important ....
>
>Also the point I was making, which is why we have been studying the 
>compression properties of (different types of) felt independently of piano 
>hammers. We can't hope to understand the effects of hammer-making 
>operations until we know a bunch about the felt material they're made from.
>
>>   Can you imagine anyone in the world being willing or able to supply such a
>>thing in 2004?  Forget it.  In 1904, probably.  But we've made 100 years of
>>'progress' since then.
>
>Well I can actually imagine it in 2004.

OK.  I was exaggerating for effect.  Artistic license, you know.  But I 
don't think I'm exaggerating by much.  I can't imagine convincing an 
existing American felt making company to provide this felt for you.  If you 
wanted to tilt at the quality hammer felt windmill you'd have to start your 
own enterprise.  And I don't know that the best quality wool from selected 
portions of selected breeds of sheep is something that you get from your 
corner wool merchant.  You might have to go straight to the source, 
assuming there still are some, such as the sheep farm I posted a link to 
yesterday.  So, conceivably doable, but not a minor undertaking.

>  There is clearly a market, albeit a niche one, and an available product 
> that could fill that need would probably sell.

I agree, although it would have to be a small firm with low overhead that 
could make a profit on a small production, or could make a hammer that's so 
clearly superior that we'd be willing to pay a substantial premium for 
it.  I think we hammer consumers might need to get used to the idea that 
good hammers might be more expensive than they are now.  I mean, come on, 
this is one of the most important elements in determining the piano's 
sound.  And you're only willing to pay $300 for hammers for a $20K 
rebuilding job or a $50K piano?

Were you planning to start up a hammer making enterprise in your garage?  I 
hear that you've been drawing your own wire.  Where do you find the time to 
do all this stuff?  Professor, author, world traveler and lecturer, 
instrument maker, wire maker, felt maker.  Do you have an army of graduate 
student slaves?

>  I think the problem is missing knowledge: (a) we don't really know what 
> properties of felt are desirable for hammer-making; (b) we can't quantify 
> those properties; (c) we don't have ranges or desirable targets for those 
> properties; (d) we don't know how the raw material (wool type) relates to 
> the finished felt product properties; (e) we don't know the relationship 
> between the processes used in felt manufacture and the mechanical 
> properties of the finished product. In other words, lots of don't-knows, 
> and consequently much speculation. We've come some of the way to 
> answering (b), and have hints about (a), that after several months of 
> experimentation.

All very useful information to have, although as a first crude step, I 
would be interested in knowing how the process for making the older felt 
differed from the contemporary process.  It wouldn't answer any of the 
above questions, but it might give a few hints.  I for one am also missing 
the knowledge of how to actually make the stuff.  I've not been able to 
find any info (web, books, other) about the actual process of industrial 
felt manufacture.  I've got a couple of books about doing felt hobby 
projects - let's make this cute hat by getting some carded wool from the 
hobby store and turning it into felt in our sink.  These give some ideas of 
the process involved but precious little information on the details of 
implementing this process on a larger scale.  I, for one, am not planning 
to make hammer felt by hand in my kitchen sink.  Do you know of any 
sources of information on felt making on a scale larger than could be 
accomplished in your own kitchen?  I can read some french and german under 
duress.


>By the way, a traditional way to full felt was rolling it up in a cloth 
>and and roping it onto the back of your horse all day....pressure from 
>trampling, heat and liquid from other obvious sources, all the essential 
>components.
>
>Stephen

That's good to know.  Perhaps we could start having hammer felt made in 
Mongolia.  Hire some guys to ride around with it on their horses.  They 
probably have some interesting long haired sheep in Mongolia as well.

With heart-felt gratitude,

Phil Ford