Hammermaker's corner 10

[isaacah]

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Hammermaker's corner 10.



Ari isaac.





Now that I had my first strip of glued up hammers fresh out of the press =
- it was time to slice them into individual hammers.

I had bought the moldings pre-sliced, just like every other hammer =
maker. The slicing tool, machine, is a large guilliotine; well, not =
quite like the classic French model, but reasonably hefty. The old =
hammer slicing variety consisted of a casting with two radiused tracks =
facing each other on both insides, in which ran roller bearings whose =
shafts were fixed to the overhead heavy handle to which was bolted the =
7"x4" knife. The knife was made of some special sexy steel like o1 or a1 =
material. To slice a hammer from the strip of the whole set you opened =
the strip so you could insert the knife between the hammer you were =
slicing off and the rest. You supported the strip against a fense with =
your left hand and pushed the knife handle down and away from you with =
your right. The sliced off hammer would fall into a tray. To get one was =
a problem: they're not sold in stores and companies using them to slice =
hammers were not going to let me have one, also, steeling was out of the =
question. What to do? Remember, I was determined to make hammers no =
matter what the odds. It still gives me a thrill knowing that the =
hammers we make are going to play music that will bring enjoyment to =
someone.=20

I had met Cliff Fowler about fifteen years earlier during my two year =
stint at the Toronto Aeolian factory, where I "fine tuned" twelve pianos =
a day so I could make a weekly pay of $60 or so, we were paid (1960) =
$1.28 per "fine" tuning. I didn't much like Cliff when I first met him, =
he was a say-it-like I sees-it Irishman who came walking through the =
factory selling tools to everyone who would buy. He was the owner of the =
local piano supply company called by the appropriate name of D. M. Best. =
They made both bass strings and hammers and I had, subsequently, been to =
their shop, they had a hammer slicing guilliotine. I decided, in 1980 to =
ask Cliff Fowler to lend me his guilliotine over a weekend so I could =
take it to my machine shop to make a copy. In the years since we had met =
I had grown to appreciate and to like Cliff; he was a decent fellow =
dealing with cheap piano manufacturers of the period who were hellbent =
on wripping out magnificent hardwood forests to produce what? Trashy =
replicas of something they called 'pianos'. Piano tecs weren't much =
better; Cliff complained often about his customers' tighwadedness and, =
standing at the counter observing D. M. Best customers coming and going, =
I don't think he was far wrong. Quibbling about prices of source =
materials, replacement parts or grumbling about increases in the price =
of quality items needed to produce a quality product, perform a fine =
job, is an attitude I have never been able to understand. The proverb =
about not being able to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear is, I =
think, perfectly suited to professionals who drown you with hipe about =
the quality of what they're selling while strenuously objecting to pay =
for items, materials, they need to purchase. Quality, in my experience, =
is genuine only when it applies to both sides of the equasion.

I think Cliff had a grudging respect for what I was trying to =
accomplish.

"I thank my lucky stars you're blind", he told me. "or else you would =
put me out of business". Or, once, when I walked into his office.

"With a face like yours the least you could do is straighten your tie". =
He walked around his desk, came over and straightened my tie with a warm =
smile.=20

I called Cliff with some trepedation. I was prepared for a blunt =
refusal; after all, why should he let me have his guilliotine to copy?=20

"I would not do this for anyone else," Cliff said, without hesitating =
any, "but, I know you. You won't rest until you make good hammers. I =
have a spare guilliotine. Take it to your machine shop and tell them not =
to rush and do a good job on your guilliotine." I paid $1000 for the one =
the machine shop made for me, it was an improved version of the one =
Cliff had loaned me. I had set it upand, now, with my first set of =
hammers I started to slice. only to discover that the guilliotine =
wouldn't slice through the felt. Nothing wrong with the slicer, it just =
wouldn't go through. I didn't have enough force to drive the big knife =
through the felt. After trying half adozen times with no success I =
called on a taller, heavier, stronger friend - he couldn't slice through =
any better than I could. The felt I had had made for Isaac Cadenza =
hammers was simply too dense for the ordinary guilliotine to handle.=20

After I'd finished wripping out the few hairs left on my head I called C =
to tell him of my predicament. He built me a no nonsense air cyllinder =
powered slicer pushed by a 4" diameter air cyllinder which sliced =
through the felt with no difficulty, hell! it would slice through a =
finger, bone and all with just as little difficulty. It had taken two, =
three weeks to get it made but now, finally, as long as I watched my =
fingers., I could make hammers.=20




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