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<DIV>Hi Dave,</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Have put comments in your notes below.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>regards</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Tony Caught<BR><A
href="mailto:caute@optusnet.com.au">caute@optusnet.com.au</A><BR></DIV>=
<BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; =
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<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: =
black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=davidlovepianos@earthlink.net
href="mailto:davidlovepianos@earthlink.net">David Love</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A =
title=pianotech@ptg.org
href="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org">Pianotech</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Sunday, September 22, =
2002 2:11
PM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Importance of the =
staple: was
hammer felt (Renner Blues)</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>If you mean that the staple is important in high =
humidity
areas to ensure the hammer doesn't come apart, I'm not sure I =
agree. My
experience is that if the glue joint fails, no staple will hold it
together. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2><FONT size=3>Many of the pianos I service (Kawai =
Yamaha
Samick) that have stapled hammers have not lifted however I have =
noticed that
in some cases the hammer felt on the tail side of the staple has =
lifted of the
wood. In these instances I am sure that the felt would have seperated =
further
if not for the staple. And yes, I have seen some hammers that are =
stapled
still lift of the wood. Not so with the wire "T" rivets.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV></FONT><FONT size=2>As far as the hammer experiencing changes =
in tension,
I must admit that living in an environment with fairly constant =
humidity year
round (and a bit on the high side), I've never thought about tension =
in the
hammer changing from season to season and with it the tone. On =
the
surface it makes sense. I wonder though whether the change is =
enough to
create a real perceptible difference, or if it does, how you would =
separate
that change from tonal changes that might occur as a result of changes =
in
the crown of the board. Difficult to tease out all the =
variables. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV>The change is very noticable. Not really dificult to tease out =
the
variables, go to any piano, steam the hammers to much and you wind up =
with a
mushy tone. Same difference. We do it all the time (to improve =
tone) in
this case nature does it for us.</DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>The other question, however, still remains. =
How
important is the staple for creating tension in the lower part of the
hammer. The proponents of the Renner blue evidently feel =
that it is
unimportant. I know from listening to Brooks and the Abel =
clan that
they feel it is a crucial part of the hammer. Isaac =
O's
remarks suggest that the stapled Renner is a different animal than the =
Renner
blue in spite of the similarities in felt type. I have to say =
that my
experience suggests that the Renner blue has a high degree of tension =
in the
felt which is responsive to needling. The Renner hammer =
used for
H. Steinway is also highly tensioned, and much harder at the =
outset. My
experience tells me that the needling requirements to get the H. =
Steinway
hammer to open up are just that much greater. But when all is =
said and
done, is what you have left all that much different? I haven't =
really
done a side by side comparison. Maybe somebody out there =
has. I'd
be interested to hear what they think. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV>The staple is inserted after the felt is placed under tension, I =
would
think that the staple is going to cause a greater surface tension (and =
an
uneven felt tension) on the felt as it compresses the felt under =
it.</DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>One interesting sidebar to this is that I have =
found out the
hard way that you need to be careful when (if) preneedling the Abel
hammer. It is very easy to release a tremendous amount of =
tension
into the crown of the hammer which can make the hammer very bright and =
difficult to work with. Whereas I almost always preneedle =
Renner
hammers feeling for some give in the shoulders with a firm squeeze as =
I go, I
find that a slower approach is more advisable with Abel hammers. =
</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>David Love</FONT></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>