Role of the Staple on a hammer

[Kendall Ross Bean]

Ha ha-
 
Yes, I think in the process of our learning a lot of us have both pulled
staples, and left them in, at different times and for different reasons. But
it still is interesting that so many technicians, with so many years of
experience, still have completely different takes on what the staples are
for and whether they really are needed.
 
I think as far as weight reduction is concerned, that that wonderful
Spurlock tapering jig allows us to skirt the staple issue quite nicely ;-) .
 
Here's another issue that others have hinted at in the "staple posts":
 
As others have suggested, there are staples, and then there are Staples.
 
Supply house hammers - usually have regular "staple"- type staples -
U-shaped - one inserted from each side. These frequently work loose, and can
start coming out because they only have their tips anchored in the wood
molding. -Not a very secure fastening. This type of staples can be removed
without guilt (or much effort, either) because they are cheaply installed
and really don't do much good. But that is also a plus. They come out
easily, if you do want to remove them. Often the tips don't even reach the
wood hammer molding, but are merely embedded in the hammer felt. These are
"cosmetic" staples.
 
German Hammers like Renner and Abel -  have  T staples that go all the way
through the hammer and come out on the other side, and have tabs that bend
over to secure the staple. These are a much more secure type of staple and
can actually serve a useful purpose (although that's still a matter of
opinion, apparently).
 
Steinway and some other hammers - have "wire" type staples that go all the
way through the hammer and the ends are twisted together on the other side.
This, too, is a somewhat useful and secure type of staple, but probably not
as stout or as effective as the T staple used by Renner and Abel. Steinway
should probably go to the T staple like the others. (Of course, they still
use that archaic brass covered dowel tubular action rail too...)
 
Larry Fine, in his Piano Book, seems to agree with you, David. He says that
Steinway calls this type of stapling "compression wiring" and that it is
thought to help maintain the compression of the shoulders.
 
On the other hand, Ed McMorrow seems to disagree, in his Educated Piano
book, suggesting that the staples really serve no function (or are
unnecessary) after the glue has dried, and are mainly to allow the
hammermaker to buy some time by not having to leave the hammers in the press
until the glue is completely dry.
 
I have weighed the staples themselves and feel that they really don't add
much, if any, weight to the hammer; but they will need to be removed if you
are going to try and pare down the hammer shoulders for weight removal, as
McMorrow advocates in his Light Hammer technique. (The felt, however,
actually does weigh something significant.)
 
What you seem to be suggesting, David, is that the staples serve much the
same function as the hammer reinforcing (that gray stuff on Steinway
hammers).
 
Lawrence Nalder, in The Modern Piano, says the reinforcing serves primarily
to keep the hammer nose (crown) from flattening out, (i.e. ever seen a
"mushroomed" hammer on an older piano?) and shows a picture of a curious
looking hammer where the wood molding splits down the middle and then comes
up on each shoulder of the hammer felt,  holding the felt securely between
two "pincers", serving the same purpose as the reinforcing.

A lot really depends on the type of staple. Some staples are pretty useless.
Others are just semi-useless, er, I mean semi-useful.
 
~Kendall Ross Bean
 
PianoFinders
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From: Farrell [mailto:mfarrel2 at tampabay.rr.com] 
Sent: Tuesday, October 28, 2008 2:45 AM
To: Pianotech List
Subject: Re: Role of the Staple on a hammer


So how exactly did this post inspiration come to you David? I'll bet you
were lying in bed thinking that Terry Farrell probably just spent half the
day yesterday yanking staples out of a set of new hammers for weight
reduction - "I know, I'll write a post about how staple removal will ruin a
set of hammers......."
 
;-)
 
Anon....

> ----- Original Message -----  
>> An older subject but I've been meaning to comment on this.  A few things
>> have been written about whether the staple is necessary to secure the
glue
>> joint on a hammer.  While I do agree that the glue does most (if not all)

>> of
>> the work holding the felt to the molding, I think the staple does play a
>> role in maintaining the overall tension in the felt.  Hammers without
>> staples must resort to reinforcers (which I have done on occasion) or
some
>> application of heat to stabilize this region.  I think the use of heat to
>> create stability has a potential downside in that too much will simply
>> remove tension from the felt rather than reinforce this area in any
>> particular way.  For that reason, I'm not yet ready to abandon the use of
>> the staple.
>>
>> David Love 
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