<HTML><HEAD> <META charset=US-ASCII http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; cha= rset=US-ASCII"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2800.1400" name=GENERATOR></HEAD> <BODY style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #fffff= f"> <DIV> <DIV> <FONT size=3>    Hi Ray</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3>   Thanks. Good post & thanks for the clea= r  mission statement & philosophy.. Maybe next time you could give = us <STRONG>your</STRONG> thoughts on tension & compression.</FONT> </DIV= > <DIV>  Dale</DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: blue = 2px solid"> <DIV><SPAN class=843243209-08052004><FONT face=Verdana size=2>Hello,</= FONT></SPAN></DIV> <DIV><SPAN class=843243209-08052004><FONT face=Verdana size=2></FONT><= /SPAN> </DIV> <DIV><SPAN class=843243209-08052004><FONT face=Verdana size=2>Dale Erw= in asked me to post information to this list in order to clarify some commen= ts that have been made about our hammers in these tech discussions. So, for = anyone who is interested, here is some information, and I will try to not ma= ke this a Ronsen commercial.</FONT></SPAN></DIV> <DIV><SPAN class=843243209-08052004><FONT face=Verdana size=2></FONT><= /SPAN> </DIV> <DIV><SPAN class=843243209-08052004><FONT face=Verdana size=2>We don't= call our hammers "cold pressed" because we do use some heat to cure the glu= e. The heat stays on for 30 minutes, at which point it is turned off, and th= e set is left in the press for an additional 2 hours & 30 minutes. So, I= guess you could say we have "slow-pressed" hammers.We have experimented wit= h heat, and true cold pressed hammers, and feel that our method gives the sa= me result as a cold pressed hammer. We do pre- press now, but use no heat in= that process. We also use hand presses, not hydraulic presses.</FONT></SPAN= ></DIV> <DIV><SPAN class=843243209-08052004><FONT face=Verdana size=2></FONT><= /SPAN> </DIV> <DIV><SPAN class=843243209-08052004><FONT face=Verdana size=2>We manuf= acture hammers this way because our goal is to make hammers similar to those= produced in this country in the 1920's. In talking with technicians over th= e years, especially Willis Snyder,we have often heard about the beautiful so= unding pianos produced in the 20's, and the properties of the hammers in tho= se pianos. As the industry changed, and most of our business was for rebuild= ers instead of manufacturers, we decided to try to produce that type of hamm= er, which meant re-learning how to make hammers. Discussions with = my father Marty, who was the foreman at Pfriemer Piano Hammer before startin= g Ronsen, got us going in this direction. We continue to make changes to imp= rove the quality of our hammers, including, thanks to Andre Oorebeek and&nbs= p;Serge Harel, the addition of Wurzen felt to our inventory. Other= manufacturers have also worked to improve the quality of their hammers= . Like you, we manufacturers also take pride in our work. We at Ronsen&= nbsp;know that most technicians today prefer the harder hammers, but we are = happy with our niche in the industry. If you have any questions or comm= ents, I can be reached at <A title=mailto:ray@ronsen-hammer.com href="ma= ilto:ray@ronsen-hammer.com">ray@ronsen-hammer.com</A> Thank you.</FONT></SPA= N></DIV> <DIV><SPAN class=843243209-08052004><FONT face=Verdana size=2></FONT><= /SPAN> </DIV> <DIV><SPAN class=843243209-08052004><FONT face=Verdana size=2>Ray Negr= on</FONT></SPAN></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></DIV> <DIV></DIV></BODY></HTML>