The all new Weickert felt hammer by Ronsen

[John Delacour]

At 08:11 -0400 15/10/08, Serge Harel wrote:

>Sorry Dale but Ray isÊjust the only one in USA not on the PLANET.
>The majority of the hammer head from China are hand screw press.
>And there is a French maker in Paris: Desfougere that use hand presses
>And I'm the only one to use the real Alfred Dolge presses

Well, Alfred Dolge himself considered these machines unsatisfactory 
and, after giving a number of important reasons why, writes (in 1911) 
:

"Exhaustive experiments which the author has made during the past 30 
years in the construction of automatic hammer-covering machines, to 
be operated by steam or hydraulic power, have led to the conclusion 
that compressed air is preferable in every respect, because the 
cylinders are instantly and independently controlled by the turn of a 
valve."

Hydraulic power has developed a great deal since Dolge's day and what 
can be done with compressed air can be done in less space with 
hydraulics.  I can see no virtue in a simple antiquated screw press 
except that it doesn't take up too much space.  To be sure, many 
thousands of sets of great hammers were produced by skilled operators 
using these machines, and are today, no doubt, by Ray and Serge, but 
in Dolge's day there were far cleverer mechanical machines at work in 
Germany and a well-designed pneumatic or hydraulic machine allows far 
more accurate control of the process.

As to the "Weickert-style" felt, I have been following the discussion 
with great interest and look forward to trying it.  Many of the 
informed comments on the various felts match my own experience very 
closely and it is great to see a felt manufacturer taking the 
interest to produce a felt of the old quality.

At 09:40 -0400 14/10/08, Dale wrote:

>  ...The reductionÊof protocols known to damage felt fibers in 
>production, such as over-bleaching, pressing, ironing and sanding 
>have all been reducedÊorÊin large part eliminated...

Good, and let's hope the wool is right to start with and that they 
can eliminate bleaching altogether.

JD