The all new Weickert felt hammer by Ronsen

[paul bruesch]

Maybe you could have just the hammers for the sharps be black... <G>

On Sat, Oct 18, 2008 at 3:50 PM, <erwinspiano at aol.com> wrote:

>
>   Fellow tone warrior.
>   Good to have another techno- splaination by some one that loves wool &
> understands the nature of both ,in felt making,what an art, and hammer
> making, also an art. The more we learn the more we can apply in our thinking
> about hammers & voicing.
>    Andre referred to the hammer as a shock absorber but A hammer is
> technically a non - linear felt spring. There's the bait now I'll see if
> there are any bites. grin
>   Excellent post David S.
>   Dale Erwin
>  Take a sheep to lunch indeed. I was actually thinking about getting a
> couple black ones and asking Jack to produce  my own black
> hammers....."Erwins Black velvets"  built especially for the dark tone.
>
>
>
> Hi Dale
>
> Didn't catch the word "pre" when you mentioned pressing..., Just wanted to
> make a positive point to the readership about coldish pressed hammers which
> is that the tensioning of the felt is not lost as in a hot pressed hammers.
> This tensioning of the fibers gives a kind of resiliency to the felt which
> makes it very bouncy like a superball... remember them? The kind of heat
> that most production hammers are made with erases this magical quality. I
> believe that the special kind of tensioning found in lukewarm pressed
> hammers contributes greatly to their beauty.
>
> The starting point for a heat level that starts to degrade the cold pressed
> quality is a little "fuzzy". The quickest way to check is to steam a spare
> hammer and if it expands at all, then it technically has density made by hot
> pressing which greatly reduces resilience... The most resilient felt builds
> density by intertangling (felting) of the fibers. It's a little confusing
> because there are two ways of building density in a hammer, one by making
> the felt dense enough before stretching around the molding then the
> stretching itself builds density....
>
> The buffing wheel felts are not hot pressed just hard by felting with very
> high pressure... the fibers just ratchet together to a very high density...
> amazing really...
>
> The amount of natural felting that occurs during felt production is very
> critical. Too much and the felt will tear, too little and the tensioning
> slips and the hammer is too soft... The art of producing a great cold
> pressed hammer is really linked with the art of making great hammer felt.
>
> My hat is always gratefully off to Ray Negron and Jack Brand (and his
> highly skilled feltmakers in Wurzen Germany). It would be a very different
> world without you both!
>
> Best TY,
>
> David
>
> "Take a sheep to lunch"
>
> >David
> >I agree. A loss of resilience occurs in Pre pressing, which is the
> practice
> >of pushing the felt into the caul before the underfelt is laid in,to
> crease
> >the felt in the middle. The purpose of this is so it is easier/possible
> to
> >center the underfelt all along the length of the felt strip in the >final
> pressing.
> >Pre-pressing or pres-stretching is more often over done & it is this
> process
> >where the felts ability to be tenisoned is reduced. I believe every >maker
> pre-presses
> >to one degree or another but pre pressing should be kept to a minimum,
> just
> >enough ot crease the felt slightly so the underfelt can stay centered with
> the
> >final press happens This is the the case with Ronsen hammers.
> >Technically there are no Cold pressed hammers. There is always so heat
> present
> >to cure the glue. Something like 130 degrees when the felt is >pressed in
> & then
> >it's turned off. Ronsen hammers stay in the press 3 hours after the >heat
> is turned
> >off. Other hammer makers whiz them in & out of the press using far >more
> heat to
> >cure the glue faster. Of course this aids production but the hamners >are
> losing resilince, >tension & compression under this protcol. I >think this
> is the way buffing wheels are made.
> >LOL
> >Dale
>
> >>Dale,
>
> >>I've always felt (no pun intended) that tension in a cold pressed
> >>hammer develops
> >>resiliency and density at the same time and that this tension is >>always
> diminished
> >>by hot pressing. Imaging bouncing something off a stretched nylon
> >>rope... (nylon
> >>being very stretchy). If the rope isn't stretched tightly you can't
> >>bounce off it
> >>very well...?
>
> >>David S
>
> >>>Dale Wrote: <snip> Pressure is pressure but pre pressing removes
> >>>resilience as does too much heat. <snip>
>
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