THE
QUALITY OF THE HAMMER:
This is another
area where you can visibly see quality. Are the
hammers nicely spaced? Are they all in line? Ask the
salesperson about the hammer weight. Good pianos in a
console size use about a ten to twelve pound hammer.
Piano hammers are made of fine wool felt which is
formed around a hard-maple hammer molding.
First-grade piano hammers are made of two layers of
felt; the outer layer is white, the inner usually
purple, green or magenta.
The layers of felt
are applied separately. The forming and gluing of the
felt to the hammer is done with tremendous pressure
applied by hammer presses. Many tons of pressure are
applied from several angles, forming the shape of the
hammers.
The result is one
long piano hammer which is then cut into individual
heads. Holes are bored at the proper angles on the
underside of each head, into which the hammer shanks
are later glued. Each set of hammers is then
individually and painstakingly fitted to the piano.
Some hammers are stapled, others have a cotter
key-like wire through the hammer to insure stability
in the hammer. Many imported pianos have hammer
weights of up top twenty pounds on grand pianos.
One of the least
understood and most controversial subjects in the
world of pianos is hammer weight. The prospective
buyer is told that one piano has twelve-pound
hammers, while another has only nine or ten-pound
hammers. A glance into the piano tells us that surely
those hammers, even all eighty-eight of them, do not
weigh from nine to twelve pounds. The figure refers
to the size of the felt sheets used in the making of
the hammers. The felt in an individual hammer
averages 109/l000ths of an ounce, depending on the
weight of the sheet of felt from which it was made;
and the difference between nine and twelve-pound
hammers average 36/l000ths of an ounce per hammer.
The important thing to remember about hammers like
all other parts of the piano, is that not only the
quality of the materials, but how those materials are
utilized in the building of the instrument determine
the overall quality of the product. In the case of
hammers, the proper shape and hardness are the key
factors affecting proper tone regulation. That's why
it is often said that while a good hammer can't make
a poor piano sound good, a bad hammer can spoil the
best piano.
Copyright
© 2011 The "Original Bluebook of Pianos All Rights Reserved