<HTML>In a message dated 9/22/2002 7:08:26 AM Pacific Daylight Time, kswafford@earthlink.net writes: <BLOCKQUOTE TYPE=CITE style="BORDER-LEFT: #0000ff 2px solid; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px">Subj:Re: Importance of the staple: was hammer felt (Renner Blues) Date:9/22/2002 7:08:26 AM Pacific Daylight Time From:<A HREF="mailto:kswafford@earthlink.net">kswafford@earthlink.net</A> Reply-to:<A HREF="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org">pianotech@ptg.org</A> To:<A HREF="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org">pianotech@ptg.org</A> Sent from the Internet > My info from several classes at conventions is that staples are only > there because "the consumer expects them".   </BLOCKQUOTE>                  Kent Wrote            <BLOCKQUOTE TYPE=CITE style="BORDER-LEFT: #0000ff 2px solid; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px">Maybe. Earlier this summer I came to a Steinway L with a set of Ronsen hammers less than a year old. The hammer felt had popped loose from one side of the molding of a single hammer. When I removed the offending hammer from the action, I found that the staple had been pulled out of the molding, but that the staple had never been installed properly; the staple had been bent up and one leg of the staple had never reached the wood of the molding. It just made me wonder, had both legs of the staple made it to the wood, would it have been enough to keep the felt from popping loose? Was it just a coincidence that the felt with the bad staple came loose?                Hi Kent</BLOCKQUOTE>                        It wouldn't have made any difference if the staples had gone in. Ray has had a bit of trouble with some batches of glue in the recent past but this has been resolved. I order all my hammers from him without staples. I've taken spare hammers and tried to pull the felt off . It's not possible, the wood will come off first.               Dale Erwin </HTML>