Music Trade Review

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31
The Music Trade Review
SEPTEMBER 24, 1927
The Technical and Supply Department — (Continued from page 29)
ought properly to be considered only in respect
of its function as a supporter to the soundboard.
It should be constructed solely in view of this
duty, and every effort should be made to avoid
any development of vibratory properties in it.
That the wooden structure will vibrate is evi-
dent; but its vibrations are to be taken as
merely incidental and without any acoustical
value.
The Upright
The casing and framing of the upright piano-
forte must now be considered. Here we have
the difference that the "back," as it is called,
consists of a wooden framing carrying the wrest
plank and the entire supporting structure for
the soundboard, plate and strings. To this the
outside case is fastened, the two large sides
being glued on,' and the other parts, such as
keybed, top and cabinet work in general, being
merely screwed in place. The back of the up-
right pianforte is in fact effectively the complete
instrument, and could very easily be built up
and assembled into playing order before the
sides, top and cabinet work had been put on
at all. In fact, this is now actually being done
by the house of Broadwood in London, under
the Collen patents. Metal braces cast in the
iron plate support the keybed, and when this
is put in place and a further arrangement car-
ried out to support the pedal work the whole
instrument may be fitted with its action and
keys, regulated, tuned and tone regulated. When
thus complete it may be put into any style
of outer case. The resulting economies can be
realized at once by the practical manufacturer
who knows the great cost of carrying large
numbers of slow-moving styles of case, which,
nevertheless, must be held in readiness at all
limes.
Meanwhile it is necessary to point out that
the iron plate of the upright pianoforte acts as
a binder and stiffener to the back, of such
potency that even very poor back construction
usually lasts pretty well. On the other hand, it
is evident that the overmastering function of
the upright back is to support soundboard and
strings rigidly, and this means, above everything
else, that the heavy rail or bar which carries the
wrest plank at the top and the other heavy bar
to which the plate is fastened at the bottom
must be bound together by strong posts or
braces, especially at the right and left-hand,
where the ornamental wooden sides are glued
in place. In fact, the upright back needs above
all to be a well-knitted rectangle of strong wood
01 of metal. Lane, of Holland, Mich., however,
encloses some of his upright soundboards in
a heavy rim built up in ply construction, just
like the inner rim of the grand case. He be-
lieves that in this way he gains greater rigidity
of the soundboard, and to that extent he is
quite likely right. This rim, which he shapes
exactly like the rim of a small grand, so that
the soundboard and plate take the same shape,
he then encloses in a back consisting of top,
Hottom and side rails only. Similar methods
have been used by others.
Wrest Planks
It would be wrong to leave this subject with-
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out considering one more matter of the utmost
importance. The whole value of the pianoforte
as a musical instrument rests, .of course, upon
its ability to stand in tune. Among the factors
contributing to such a desideratum, none exceeds
in importance the construction and housing of
the "wrest plank" or tuning pin block into which
are driven the tuning pins. Modern American
p.actice usually fastens the wrest plank of the
grand pianoforte directly to the underside of
the iron plate, with whatever number of screws
may be thought to be sufficient, providing a
flange cast into the plate to resist the tendency
of the plank to pull forward under the influence
of the stretched strings. On the other hand,
still greater rigidity can be obtained by building
the wrest plank into the two wooden sides of
the case first, and then fastening the plate down
on it with the needed number of screws. The
latter method is, of course, more expensive, but
it is undoubtedly more secure.
Upright pianofortes have the advantage that
in them the wrest plank forms part of the heavy
back, which greatly improves their qualities of
stiffness and rigidity.
On the question of the construction of the
wrest plank it is necessary to remark that the
prime necessity is to interpose the maximum
amount of frictional resistance to the turning
of the pin. Plywood construction is absolutely
necessary under modern conditions, and the only
wood that will suffice is maple or one of its
hardwood equivalents.
turers in the Middle Western states. His route
will be through Albany, Buffalo, Toronto, back
to Buffalo, on to Cleveland, Detroit, Chicago,
Milwaukee, back to Chicago and returning to
New York via Cincinnati and Baltimore. Mr.
Oetting expects that the trip will require five or
six weeks.
Wm. Merriam Returns
SOUTH ACTON, MASS., September 14.—William
Merriam of the A. Merriam Co., of this city,
manufacturer of piano stools and benches, re-
turned to headquarters after a month's trip
through New York State and Pennsylvania.
"Will," as he is popularly known in trade circles,
states that he found a better general feeling in
the trade than on previous recent visits. He is
optimistic about the demands for the coming
year for piano benches of period design which
are said to be having a good reception in all
parts of the country.
P. A. Hayward Appointed
WASHINGTON, D. C, September 17.—The ap-
Wood Industries Section
of A. S. M. E. Meeting
pointment of Phillips A. Hayward, lumber
specialist, to the technical staff of the National
Committee on Wood Utilization of the Depart-
ment of Commerce has been announced re-
cently by Axel H. Oxholm, director of the
committee. Mr. Hayward is a graduate of the
New York State College of Forestry, Syracuse,
N. Y., and has lately held the position of
instructor in wood utilization in that institution.
He has had extensive experience in manufac-
turing and retailing both softwoods and hard-
woods in the South and Lake States region.
Mr. Hayward will devote a great deal of his
time to various industrial projects, with par-
ticular reference to small-dimension stock and
.short-length lumber.
Two-Day Gathering to Be Held at Grand
Rapids, Mich., With Technical Program
Wool Clip Decreases
Correspondence
is solicited and should be addressed to William
Braid White, 5149 Agatite Avenue, Chicago.
The Wood Industries Division of the Ameri-
can Society of Mechanical Engineers will hold
its 1927 national meeting at Grand Rapids, Mich.,
on October 17 and 18, making its headquarters
at the Hotel Pantlind, that city. Paul H. Bilhu-
ber, factory executive of Steinway & Sons, New
York, and secretary of the Wood Industries Di-
vision, will be among those representing the
piano industry at the meeting. Mr. Bilhuber,
in sending out the" official notice of the conven-
tion, stated that non-members of the engineering
society are cordially invited to attend and ex-
pressed the belief that many of the Western
piano manufacturing executives and superintend-
ents will be on hand.
William Braid White, technical editor of The
Review, and chairman of the Wood Industries
Division, has sent out program announcements
in detail to members. The program on Mon-
day, the opening day, will include registration at
the Hotel Pantlind at 9:30 o'clock, followed by
plant inspection tours through the balance of the
morning. The afternoon will be devoted to an
interesting technical session, held in the Italian
Room of the Hotel. The Division's informal
dinner and business session will be held Mon-
day evening in the Colonial Room of the hotel.
Tuesday morning will be devoted to another ex-
tensive technical session in which various papers
on the quality and properties of wood, finishing
materials, etc., will be read by various nTetnbers.
WASHINGTON, D. C, September 17.—A decrease
of approximately 7 per cent in the wool clip
of Australia, New Zealand, the United King-
dom and the United States is indicated by the
preliminary estimates available to the Depart-
ment of Agriculture. These countries in 1926
produced roughly a little less than half of the
estimated world's wool production. The 7 per
cent decrease in the countries mentioned is due
entirely to the smaller wool clip forecast for
Australia, the decrease being estimated at ap-
proximately 15 per cent.
The shortage in the coming Australian clip,
as compared with last year, is estimated to be
approximately 126,500,000 pounds instead of
250,000 bales, or approximately 79,500,000
pounds as indicated at a conference between the
Australian Woolgrowers' Council and the Na-
tional Council of Woolselling Brokers, held in
Adelaide at an earlier date.
While the number of mature sheep to be
shorn will probably be slightly larger, due to
the large increase in sheep in New South Wales
last season, a decrease in the weight of the
fleece of 1% pounds per head is by no means
excessive, judging by the conditions of skins.
Opens Biological Section
ls
MADISON, W - ( September 17.—The Forest
Products Laboratory has recently installed a
biological section, a department which has been
considered by the laboratory for some time.
The field covered will be such phases of forest
Philip G. Oetting, president and treasurer of research as wood structure, relation of wood
Philip W. Oetting & Son, Inc., New York, sole structure and wood properties in general to
agent for Weickert piano felts, started this week tree physiology and to growing conditions,
on an extensive business trip through the Mid- forest tree morphology, physiology and bio-
dle West. He will make the entire trip by chemistry, forest soils, light and atmospheric
motor, accompanied by Mrs. Oetting, and will factors, genetics, and the development of spe-
cover virtually all of the leading piano manufac- cial instruments for research.
P. G. Oetting in West