Hammer weighting...Was Arbor Press

[Mark Schecter]

Hi, Ric and David and all.

I missed the earlier discussion a couple years ago, but I've had a 
thought which might pertain to this. I think it might be good to 
position the weight in the tail of the hammer _below_ the shank when 
possible, as opposed to in the molding above the shank. The reason is 
that this way, the shank is pulling the weight behind it, instead of 
pushing it ahead. If you think of the phrase, "You can't push a rope," 
it might help illustrate, albeit imperfectly. Or if you balance a broom 
stick on your palm, you have to be very accurate about keeping your palm 
directly under the broomstick, if you try to accelerate it upward. But 
if you hang the weight below (or behind) the motivating force, it just 
trails along behind like a good little caboose. I think (just guessing, 
really) this would have a calming effect on the hammer's behavior, 
possibly more so than finessing where relative to the center line the 
weight is exactly (when it's above the shank, that is). Do you have any 
thoughts on this?

-Mark Schecter

Ric Brekne wrote:
> A good thought. There was a disscussion here a couple years back that 
> started moving in this direction but never got off the ground.  We were 
> into a lot of key and hammer inertia questions.  I would be very 
> suprised if the addtion of sometimes up to 1.5 grams of lead wouldnt 
> significantly affect the hammer travel.  Stephens fast photography would 
> be just the thing to show this.
> 
> Used judiciously... it could be a tool for that matter.
> 
> Cheers
> RicB
> --------------
> So maybe front to back?   Fun to speculate isn't it...
> 
> David Ilvedson, RPT
> Pacifica, CA 94044
>