Music Trade Review
Issue: 1916 Vol. 63 N. 25 - Page 45
Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
A VIGOROUS DEFENSE OF AMERICAN FELT
By DAVID A. SMITH, Eastern Sales Manager, Standard Felt Co.
It has been quite interesting to me to read
the various discussions of the processes con-
nected with the productions of hammer felt and
piano hammers and their connection with the
piano manufacturing business. It is of great
interest to me inasmuch as 1 represent one of
the larg-est manufacturers of the best hammer
felts and the finest piano hammers made in this
country—the best hammer felts, on account
of the distinctive process of manufacturing and
the best hammers on account of the superior
grade of felt used and the highest and most ex-
perienced type of workmanship.
The process of getting the desired tone in a
piano originates from as many sources as there
are parts to the instrument, and also from their
various combinations. The felt must be prop-
erly manufactured, the hammers must be cov-
ered under the most skillful and expert direc-
tion, and as nutch care must be exercised in
the picking and tone regulating.
The finest of wool is used in the manufac-
ture of hammer felts. Wool taken from the
sheep's back contains grease, oil, and consider-
able vegetable matter. To remove this, it is
subjected to two and sometimes three washings,
and as many rinsings in order to be absolutely
certain that the dirt is first removed then the
soap afterward.
The method used by the
Standard Felt Co. is exclusive for the reason
that they are the only ones to employ it under
climatic conditions that cannot be equalled any
place else on the face of the globe. The wool,
after being thus scoured, passes into the solar
dryer, thus exposing the wet wool to the sun.
This method thereby retains in the wool the
strength, resiliency and endurance which are so
absolutely necessary in obtaining tone quality.
All other manufacturers, both in this country
and abroad use the artificial method of drying,
under enormous heat and without proper ven-
tilation, giving reverse results.
Our wools
treated in this manner, according to the dictates
of nature (by the sun), under the most favor-
able atmospheric conditions of southern Cali-
fornia, arc not allowed to be used in the manu-
facture of felts, especially hammer felt, until
they have been exposed for at least three
months to the open air and heat of the sun.
After the wool has been thus prepared, it
then goes to the sorting, picking and carding
machines, where the branding tar or paint is
removed as much as possible, and worked up
into fine spider webs. These webs are run
from the carding machines on to an endless
apron, where they are formed into long tapered
sheets. Each grade of felt has its own dis-
tinctive mixture. Wools used in many of our
grades of felt could not be used in hammer
felts; the blending therefore is a great and im-
portant factor. No chemicals are used in our
wools—nothing but the very best soaps that can
be obtained, this being essential in the various
processes of the manufacture.
After the long sheets have been formed, the
soft pile of fluffy wool is passed on to the hard-
ening and fulling machines which reduces or
shrinks the felt to its proper size or shape, hard-
ness or consistency. This process, as well as
the carding of hammer felt is entirely different
from all other felts for the reason that the
sheets are tapered—the bass end of the sheet
must naturally be thick and heavy while the
extreme treble end is thin, and light. They
are formed wedge-shaped, some straight taper
and others full taper. The former, sometimes
termed the American taper, is the one common-
ly used in the cheaper grade, while the latter
is used extensively in higher grade hammers.
In hardening such sheets, it becomes absolutely
necessary to work each little cross-section in-
dividually, for the reason that the felt in the
bass is usually of a medium, hard touch and
hardens gradually to the upper tenor and treble
sections, where it must be quite firm. A treble
to be firm doesn't mean exactly that the felt
must be hard, it must have body, and by hav-
ing the proper body it will make a firm treble
The final stages in the process of manufac-
turing hammer felts are the bleaching and fin-
ishing. In the former you find the Standard
Felt Co. relying on nature's method—(the sun).
MATERIALS,
TOOLS AND
SUPPLIES
FOR
.
PIANO MANUFACTURERS
HINGES, BUTTS, CASTERS, PEDALS, FELTS,
CLOTHS, PUNCHINGS, SWINGS, HANGERS,
KNOBS, LOCKS, ETC., AND A FULL LINE OF
TOOLS USED IN TUNING, REGULATING AND
REPAIRING. CORRESPONDENCE INVITED.
45
Other manufacturers rely on artificial means,
the one being mostly resorted to is the use of
sulphur. Felt, bleached in this way and ex-
posed to the sulphur fumes contains a consid-
erable quantity of grit or soot. This also has
a tendency to destroy the life and elasticity in
the fibre.
You can therefore understand, that all through
the manufacturing of hammer felts, that the
process employed by the Standard Felt Co. pre-
serves rather than destroys the natural life of
the wool in the washing, drying and bleach-
ing.
Some may ask, "Why do not other manufac-
turers adopt our methods?"
The answer is
that nowhere else will you find a felt mill so
favorably located with almost perpetual sun-
shine, uniform temperature the year round and
rain unknown during the year except through
the rainy season of less than two months.
These natural advantages helpful to the man-
ufacturer of hammer felt are equally important
to the raising of fine sheep. Wool produced in
this climate would undoubtedly be more uni-
form in texture than that raised in a climate of
constant changes, from extreme heat to cold.
In a climate of long winters and short summers
the clips are uneven. Nature cannot be im-
proved upon.
It is, therefore, reasonable to
consider that felt made according to the laws
of nature, must, of necessity be better than that
manufactured otherwise.
I claim, and have been substantiated by sev-
eral of the leading piano manufacturers of this
country that our product, quality for quality, is
not only as good but is superior to any they
have ever used.
From the process of manufacturing the felt,
we come to the hammer covering. An inex-
perienced hammer coverer has often made a
very poor hammer from good felt, and a good
workman can make a fairly good hammer from
felt that is not right up to the standard. You
can, therefore, see, that the covering is quite as
important as the making of the felt itself.
Processes in the making of hammers consist
of the proper selection of sheets, the cutting
of the felt, the mouldings, the hammer moulds,
placing the felt into the presses properly—
(which includes the glueing)—boring, wiring
and finishing. These various methods require
specialists as orders are manufactured and filled
similar to drug store prescriptions.
To be a successful hammer manufacturer one
must cater to the piano trade individually for
the reason that their ideas of scale, size, qual-
ity, shape, price, etc., are as a rule somewhat
different. The manufacturer of a cheap piano
who cannot spend a great deal on regulating,
wants a hammer which will require very little
labor and specifies a bass that is quite soft and
hardens* gradually to the extreme treble. On
the other hand, the manufacturer of a high-
grade piano usually specifies a firm hammer
throughout, as he is willing to stand more ex-
pense in obtaining the desired results. Thus
it is with the grade and size of the hammers.
This very often is governed by the price, it
being a question of how much he can afford to
put into hammers.
(Continued
tin fa^c
47)
Richardson Piano Case Co.
Manufacturers of
HAMMACHER, SCHLEMMER & CO.
Upright— I V
NEW YORK SINCE 1848
4th Ave. & 13th St.
J
Established
LEOMINSTER
::
1891
::
MASS.
THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
A VIGOROUS DEFENSE OF AMERICAN FELT
By DAVID A. SMITH, Eastern Sales Manager, Standard Felt Co.
It has been quite interesting to me to read
the various discussions of the processes con-
nected with the productions of hammer felt and
piano hammers and their connection with the
piano manufacturing business. It is of great
interest to me inasmuch as 1 represent one of
the larg-est manufacturers of the best hammer
felts and the finest piano hammers made in this
country—the best hammer felts, on account
of the distinctive process of manufacturing and
the best hammers on account of the superior
grade of felt used and the highest and most ex-
perienced type of workmanship.
The process of getting the desired tone in a
piano originates from as many sources as there
are parts to the instrument, and also from their
various combinations. The felt must be prop-
erly manufactured, the hammers must be cov-
ered under the most skillful and expert direc-
tion, and as nutch care must be exercised in
the picking and tone regulating.
The finest of wool is used in the manufac-
ture of hammer felts. Wool taken from the
sheep's back contains grease, oil, and consider-
able vegetable matter. To remove this, it is
subjected to two and sometimes three washings,
and as many rinsings in order to be absolutely
certain that the dirt is first removed then the
soap afterward.
The method used by the
Standard Felt Co. is exclusive for the reason
that they are the only ones to employ it under
climatic conditions that cannot be equalled any
place else on the face of the globe. The wool,
after being thus scoured, passes into the solar
dryer, thus exposing the wet wool to the sun.
This method thereby retains in the wool the
strength, resiliency and endurance which are so
absolutely necessary in obtaining tone quality.
All other manufacturers, both in this country
and abroad use the artificial method of drying,
under enormous heat and without proper ven-
tilation, giving reverse results.
Our wools
treated in this manner, according to the dictates
of nature (by the sun), under the most favor-
able atmospheric conditions of southern Cali-
fornia, arc not allowed to be used in the manu-
facture of felts, especially hammer felt, until
they have been exposed for at least three
months to the open air and heat of the sun.
After the wool has been thus prepared, it
then goes to the sorting, picking and carding
machines, where the branding tar or paint is
removed as much as possible, and worked up
into fine spider webs. These webs are run
from the carding machines on to an endless
apron, where they are formed into long tapered
sheets. Each grade of felt has its own dis-
tinctive mixture. Wools used in many of our
grades of felt could not be used in hammer
felts; the blending therefore is a great and im-
portant factor. No chemicals are used in our
wools—nothing but the very best soaps that can
be obtained, this being essential in the various
processes of the manufacture.
After the long sheets have been formed, the
soft pile of fluffy wool is passed on to the hard-
ening and fulling machines which reduces or
shrinks the felt to its proper size or shape, hard-
ness or consistency. This process, as well as
the carding of hammer felt is entirely different
from all other felts for the reason that the
sheets are tapered—the bass end of the sheet
must naturally be thick and heavy while the
extreme treble end is thin, and light. They
are formed wedge-shaped, some straight taper
and others full taper. The former, sometimes
termed the American taper, is the one common-
ly used in the cheaper grade, while the latter
is used extensively in higher grade hammers.
In hardening such sheets, it becomes absolutely
necessary to work each little cross-section in-
dividually, for the reason that the felt in the
bass is usually of a medium, hard touch and
hardens gradually to the upper tenor and treble
sections, where it must be quite firm. A treble
to be firm doesn't mean exactly that the felt
must be hard, it must have body, and by hav-
ing the proper body it will make a firm treble
The final stages in the process of manufac-
turing hammer felts are the bleaching and fin-
ishing. In the former you find the Standard
Felt Co. relying on nature's method—(the sun).
MATERIALS,
TOOLS AND
SUPPLIES
FOR
.
PIANO MANUFACTURERS
HINGES, BUTTS, CASTERS, PEDALS, FELTS,
CLOTHS, PUNCHINGS, SWINGS, HANGERS,
KNOBS, LOCKS, ETC., AND A FULL LINE OF
TOOLS USED IN TUNING, REGULATING AND
REPAIRING. CORRESPONDENCE INVITED.
45
Other manufacturers rely on artificial means,
the one being mostly resorted to is the use of
sulphur. Felt, bleached in this way and ex-
posed to the sulphur fumes contains a consid-
erable quantity of grit or soot. This also has
a tendency to destroy the life and elasticity in
the fibre.
You can therefore understand, that all through
the manufacturing of hammer felts, that the
process employed by the Standard Felt Co. pre-
serves rather than destroys the natural life of
the wool in the washing, drying and bleach-
ing.
Some may ask, "Why do not other manufac-
turers adopt our methods?"
The answer is
that nowhere else will you find a felt mill so
favorably located with almost perpetual sun-
shine, uniform temperature the year round and
rain unknown during the year except through
the rainy season of less than two months.
These natural advantages helpful to the man-
ufacturer of hammer felt are equally important
to the raising of fine sheep. Wool produced in
this climate would undoubtedly be more uni-
form in texture than that raised in a climate of
constant changes, from extreme heat to cold.
In a climate of long winters and short summers
the clips are uneven. Nature cannot be im-
proved upon.
It is, therefore, reasonable to
consider that felt made according to the laws
of nature, must, of necessity be better than that
manufactured otherwise.
I claim, and have been substantiated by sev-
eral of the leading piano manufacturers of this
country that our product, quality for quality, is
not only as good but is superior to any they
have ever used.
From the process of manufacturing the felt,
we come to the hammer covering. An inex-
perienced hammer coverer has often made a
very poor hammer from good felt, and a good
workman can make a fairly good hammer from
felt that is not right up to the standard. You
can, therefore, see, that the covering is quite as
important as the making of the felt itself.
Processes in the making of hammers consist
of the proper selection of sheets, the cutting
of the felt, the mouldings, the hammer moulds,
placing the felt into the presses properly—
(which includes the glueing)—boring, wiring
and finishing. These various methods require
specialists as orders are manufactured and filled
similar to drug store prescriptions.
To be a successful hammer manufacturer one
must cater to the piano trade individually for
the reason that their ideas of scale, size, qual-
ity, shape, price, etc., are as a rule somewhat
different. The manufacturer of a cheap piano
who cannot spend a great deal on regulating,
wants a hammer which will require very little
labor and specifies a bass that is quite soft and
hardens* gradually to the extreme treble. On
the other hand, the manufacturer of a high-
grade piano usually specifies a firm hammer
throughout, as he is willing to stand more ex-
pense in obtaining the desired results. Thus
it is with the grade and size of the hammers.
This very often is governed by the price, it
being a question of how much he can afford to
put into hammers.
(Continued
tin fa^c
47)
Richardson Piano Case Co.
Manufacturers of
HAMMACHER, SCHLEMMER & CO.
Upright— I V
NEW YORK SINCE 1848
4th Ave. & 13th St.
J
Established
LEOMINSTER
::
1891
::
MASS.
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