Music Trade Review

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THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
Baking Process for Wood Work. cessfully accomplished; and we see no rea- keep this room day and night, from the
A VALUABLE ARTICLE OF INTEREST TO PIANO
MAKERS — WRITTEN BY A VARNISH
EXPERT.
In the new catalogue just issued by Mol-
ler & Schumann, manufacturers of fine
varnishes, a very interesting contribution
on the baking process for wood is embodied.
It is written by John H. Schumann of the
firm, who is an expert in his line. He has
made a study of the subject treated of, and
his article is both interesting and valuable,
and is worthy the consideration due an
authority. Here is the article:
It is a well-established fact that the dry-
ing properties of varnishes are subject,
first, to the thickness of the varnish as ap-
plied to the .^ work—a thick coating of
varnish not drying as rapidly hard as a thin
coating of the same, and vice versa—and
secondly, tcthe state of the elements.
The varnish manufacturer is yet unborn
who is able to make a varnish which dries
alike in an extremely high and extremely
low temperature, and an extremely high
and extremely low atmosphere; and the
varnish and its maker are often condemned
because the varnish does not dry as well at
zero as in summer heat, and on a dog-day
in August on the seashore as well as on a
clear summer day on Pike's Peak. The ef-
fects of these extreme differences and
changes in temperature and atmosphere on
wood, paper/metal and varnish should be at
once apparent to the artisan, and that uni-
form results as to the drying of varnishes
under these conditions are impossible and
cannot be realized.
For reasons above stated, and to obtain
more uniform and quicker results from the
varnishing department in turning out its
share of finished work allotted to it, a good
many different branches in the art of man-
ufacture have adopted the drying of their
varnished work by a uniform artificial heat
and atmosphere, and so we find in wood-
ware shops of all kinds, in the factories of
lead pencil and pen handles, from the
clock case to the piano case, in paste-board
and papier-mache, paper, leather, oil-cloth,
iron, tin and other metal manufactories,
the adoption of artificial heat for drying
process in the varnish, japan and lacquer
department, a process which has been
known for ages as the baking process, but
which in some industries, such as paper,
clock, piano and furniture, has only been
adopted in recent years of sheer necessity
when both space and time would no longer
permit of the slower and uncertain air-
drying process.
In some instances where the time-hon-
ored application of varnish with the hand
was absolutely abolished by machinery,
creating a consumption from twenty gallons
by hand to one hundred gallons of varnish
by machinery per diem, devices had to be
adopted to dry this immense amount of ad-
ditional varnished work within the same
time without the use of additional room,
as the latter was not at command, and by
applying artificial heat to paper at a rate
of 200 degrees Fahrenheit the feat was suc-
son why for you, the piano and furniture
manufacturer, artificial heat, as much as
your work will stand, will not be able to
gain for you a saving of time and money
with otherwise better results as to a fine,
good, durable finish than with the ordinary
air-drying process.
It may not be generally known that well
seasoned wood, when properly treated to
prevent blistering of the varnish during the
escape of the moisture and gases, will with-
stand a temperature of ,350 Fahrenheit
without scorching, and that we are furnish-
ing the trade with black baking enamels
that require this degree of heat to harden
them and which produce as fine work as
the celebrated Japanese lacquer. We fully
understand, however, that this excessive
heat would be detrimental and out of the
question for furniture and piano makers, as
it would very likely disintegrate the glue
and warp the wood.
The above process has been known for
centuries; in fact, there are some varnishes
and kindred material which would be
absolutely worthless without a very high
heat: in some instances 600 degrees
Fahrenheit is not objectionable. In other
cases where 350 degrees of heat are used
for from four to five hours, 600 degrees
will bake this same work in from twenty
to thirty minutes; but it is also a well-
known fact to us as varnish makers that
there cannot be any possible objection to
use the finest piano forte rubbing, cabinet
polishing and flowing varnishes, and the
finest coach rubbing and finishing var-
nishes in any heat up to 125 degrees, and
with care up to 200 degrees. Bear in wind,
however, that we refer to the varnish only;
for glued and veneered work we can hardly
recommend a higher heat than 115 degrees.
In piano and furniture factories where,
like in all other industries in the art of
manufacture, space and time are valuable,
and where the drying of the varnishes is at
all times a most vexatious question with
you, it is a surprise to us that the artificial
drying of varnish in a temperature as high
as your work will otherwise stand has not
been more generally adopted in these
industries, especially so as a proper drying
room is most cheaply established in any
plant carrying steam. All that is necessary
is to partition off with tongued and grooved
ceiling boards on each varnishing floor a
space (room) large enough to hold your
work, line the partition with a good quality
of asbestos paper, and line also your ceiling
with asbestos paper. This is done for no
other reason than to prevent the heat from
escaping. Put enough steam piping in
your hot room or oven as we now desire to
call your drying room, sufficient to create
the necessary heat you require, and the
entire baking apparatus is finished and
ready for use. Your windows will furnish
sufficient ventilation to carry off the fumes.
If steam should not be convenient, there is
no objection whatsoever to adopting, for
your purpose,a suitable fire or gas stove, or
any electric apparatus to create the neces-
sary high temperature required. If you will
start to the finish of your work, at a tem-
perature of 115 degrees, it will not take
long to demonstrate that first-class work
can be obtained at a great saving of time.
FROH THE CITY BY THE LAKE.
(Continuedfrom first page.)
Chinese instruments—a "gukow,"a " be-
war " and a "taking." To the Japanese
section of the collection will be added
several shell horns of curious design and a
"koto," which is universally played for
the dancing girls in the land of the mikado.
*
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At the Steinway warerooms there are
little complaints about trade. There is al-
ways an excellent demand for the Steinway
instruments among the wealthy people in
this city. They maintain a distinct place
and always command a distinct trade. The
Hazelton and other instruments carried by
this house are in fairly good demand.
*
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At Lyon & Healy's, Clayton F. Summy
Co.'s, the John A. Norris Co., the Manufac-
turers' Co., and the Hallet & Davis Co., an
improving condition of business is re-
ported. Trade has been somewhat un-
even, but the aggregate sales are encourag-
ing.
•
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Herbert H. Taylor has succeeded the Hall
Music Co. in this city.
Braumuller Shipments.
The Review arrived at the Braumuller
factory and warerooms on Thursday just
in time to witness the preparation for im-
mediate shipment of a score or more of
the latest and most attractive styles. The
enterprising policy of this firm, whereby
the solid merits of the Braumuller instru-
ments are being brought prominently and
persistently to notice, is having its effect.
Mandolin Making in Florida.
I. R. Hargrove and A. E. Kerfoot have
started into manufacture of mandolins at
Miami, Fla. Speaking of the enterprise,
the Miami Metropolis says: " Crab wood,
that most beautiful of grained woods, enters
most largely into the manufacture of the
instruments. A very beautiful mandolin
is made of a combination of prince, crab,
maderia, wild tamarind, and torch woods,
giving a most harmonious effect, as all the
woods are of fine grain. There is a large
amount of labor goes into mandolins, made
as thesegentlemen are making them. They
are putting their instruments up with the
best of fittings, which will make them
valuable. Very soon they will put in a
lathe, polishing machine, etc., and will go
into the manufacture of these instruments
on a much larger scale."
A new keyboard for pianos consists of
one octave of keys set in a frame which
slides across the piano on parallel rods to
connect with each octave ofrstrings, an in-
dicator back of the keys showing the octave-
011 which the frame lies.