The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1874-09-05 00:00:00

TTI norm:mm:3x VETT
- - ROW PIANOS ARE MADE.

attend. There have been several instances of gen-

men being elected, who have never so much as
attended to make the necessary declaration quali-
fying them to sit as Commissioners; thus render-
ing their election, for all practical purposes, null
and void. We can hardly wonder at this when
under the present system persons may be elected
without their knowledge or concurrence. Another
advantage of a public nomination would be that if
there were no more nominations than vacancies the
expense of an election would be obviated. As it
is we are campelled to have an election, no matter
how few or how many the candidates may be, be-
cause we have no means of ascertaining how many
are nominated until the poll has actually taken
place.

The following interesting article on the above sub-
ject appeared in the Figaro, of the 15th nit—
The new factory which Messrs. Brinsmead have
lately built in the Grafton-road, Kentish Town,
covers nearly an acre of ground. It has a most com-
plete system of machinery, a perfect series of " shops,"
a drying-room, which is said to be the largest in
Europe, and is generally one of the most perfect spe-
cimens of its sort in the world.
Passing by the manager's house and stabling, I
which do not concern us, we first enter the timber- I
yard, where are lying about, apparently in the most
delightful state of confusion, but really each duly
numbered and booked, logs and cases of wood of all
sorts and sizes, from trunks of beech and deal and
the most valuable boxes of Swiss pine. Two saw-pits
are here at work, cutting the wood into lengths for ,
outdoor seasoning. The wood remains in the open I
air until it is thoroughly dried (often for several years), j
when, to make assurance doubly sure, it is taken into I
the drying-room, a spacious house, artificially heated,
and containing at the present time several thousand
pouuds'-worth of the most valuable timber, for at
least a twelvemonth. From the drying-room, we
pass into the engine-house, where is constructed a
twenty-five horse-power engine, of the newest pattern
with a patent apparatus for economising the fuel, by
which half a ton of coal only isnecessary for the day's
work. Both the smoke and the surplus steam from
the engine is utilised, the one to warm the drying-
room, and the other to manufacture hot air, by means
of which the whole of the building is heated. Not a
single tire of any sort is necessary throughout the
works, and the requisite heat for veneering, glueilg
and other purposes is derived entirely from the sur-
plus steam of the engine.
Passing into the mill-room, we see the commence-
ment of the piano. There the wood is made to un-
dergo the necessary process of finesavriug, machine
planing, and boring, and the materials generally are
cut into convenient lengths and prepared for the work
of construction. In the next room we find the frame-
makers busily at work constructing the back or
framework of the instrument; and as, when the
strings are highly strung, the back of the piano has
to bear a strain of often many (sometimes of no less
than sixteen) tons, it may be imagined how strong
this portion of the work must be. To give the piano
further strength, a massive wrought-iron bar is placed
at the bottom; and two tabular iron supports, which
by a compensating screw, can be made to give slightly
when required in the process of tuning, are fixed up-
right along the back. Around pegs fixed to the
iron at the bottom, and others driven into the wood
at the top the strings are now lightly wound, the tun-
ing taking place at a subsequent stage of the pro-

coedings.-
At the back of the framework, and without fixture,
is placed the sounding-board, which is one of the
most important parts of the instrhtuent. The best
Swiss fir is alone available for this purpose, and, as
it must be free from knots, and has to undergo a
curious and delicate process of varnishing, it may be
imagined how troublesome this part of the work must
be. The strings are made of the best Belgian steel,
and the bass strings are, besides, bound round with
copperiwire, compensating in thickness for the lem,h,
which, in times of oh!, was thought to be elm grand
secret of pianosorte making.
We have now, as far as the music is concerned, an
instrument which is possible to be played upon, arid
here we begin to supply the motive-power, that which
produces the sound. It is tolerably well known that
the music is produced in the piano by 'amnia of a
1" hammer" made of tough wood cased in hard leather
of buffalo, basil, calf, doeskin, morocco, or sheepskin,
as the case may be, which strikes against the chords
(a bichord being made of two strings, and a trichord,
up to a certain point, with three), and Causes a sound
which may be regulated according to the thickness of
the strings and the degree of tension to which they
are strong. The motive-power of the hammer is the
key board, which, by delicate mechan-
ism, releases the hammer upon being pressed upward
by the key, which, in its turn, striking the strings at
once, immediately falls back into its place. If
the hammer remained on the strings, the sound
would of course cease instantaneously, while the ob.
ject sought is a free vibration of the strings and con-
sequent prolongation of the sound. The sound is
checked by means of a " damper," or a diminutive
hammer tipped with soft felt, which falls on the
strings as the key falls upward, and stops the sound.
So long as the finger remains on the key, the damper
and the vibration continues; while, directly the lin-
ger is lifted, the damper falls and the sound is, of
course, checked. This is simple enough in theory,
and it is upon this principle that the various improve-
ments in pianoforte " action" are based. To describe
these intricate " actions " would be to plunge into
hard theory and practical mechanics; ands such an
explanation would not be readily understood by the
general reader, we leave the subject, which only inter-
ests professed mechanics, to the professed mechanical
journals. The keys are, of course, all protected with
felt, and the hammer, the hopper, the damper, andthe
various other parts of the mechanism are hinged with
vellum or light wire, the object sought being a free
touch, a perfect check, and a quick repetition. The
principal upon which the pedals are worked is a very
simple one, pressure upon the forte pedal merely
raising the whole of the dampers, and consequently
wolonging the vibration, while a touch of the foot
o c the piano pedal shifts the whole of the hammers
slightly to the right, so that they strike on one
string only, and consequently the sound is diminished
The ease is now veueerd di process we shall de-
se-ibe hmeafter), the mechanism fitted, and the
piano is passed on to the finisher's shop, where tie
ornamental parts of the instrument, such as the fret-
work, the silk, the legs, aud the opening-Sal', are
fittest, and the pianoforte is taken to the examining
shop, where the timing process takes place under the
successive hands of the rougher-up, the regulator,
the smooth tuner and the toner.
The framework of the piano, in which great
strength is required, is made of hard deal from Nor-
way, oak from Riga, and chestnut and beech from
this country. Fir, for sounding boards, is brought
from Switzerland, and pine, for key-bottoms, from
America. Mahogany is brought from Honduras and
Cuba for framework, Englieh lime, pear-tree, and
sycamore are used for keys and small work; cedar,
from South America, for hammer shanks; and rose-
wood from Rio Janeiro, satinwood from the East
Indies, English brown oak and white holly, zebra
wood from the Brazils, and the walnut from Circussia
and Persia, are used for veneers. The veneerstrips,
which are very valuable, are as thin as rape:, and
are fixed on the chestnut or pine by means of glue.
The yeller is prescd by means of moulds upon the
wood until it becomes perfectly firm, and without
wrinkle or warp, and is then left to dry for a consid-
erable period before it can be actually used. The
process of veneering, though simple enough, is a
matter of extreme delicacy, as a false step world
spoil piece a of woos! of large N alue. The fretwork is
also veneerd, and the carving of the pattern for the
fret and music stand, which is performed by little
saws, is, as may be imagined, very ticklish work in-
sired. In fact, a hair's-breadth in the wrong direc-
tion would spoil the work of a couple of days and a
valuable piece of wood into the bargain.
We have now gone over the works, and seen in de-
tail what care and skill are necessary in the con-
struction of this the king of inetruments. Of the
delicacy of several portions of the work and the in-
finite minuthe, we have not space to speak, but we
think we have succeeded in giving a tolerably clear
account of the methodical and careful way in which a
piano is made. Speaking of Messrs. Brinsmead's
works, of the building itself, which was constiucted
from the designs of Mr. Charles Evans, of 23, Willis-
road, NW., we have nothing but the highest praise
to afford. Judging from its exterior, the erection i.e
not a particularly fine specimen of architecture :
Gothic arches and Norman towers would have been
out of place in a place of business; but for sheer
capabilities for work and practical utility, the place
is perfection in itself, the absence of any sort of stove
or place for a coal fire in the building makes a con-
flagaration almost impossible; while, as both exterior
and interior walls are made of brick, as each portion
of the building is inclosed in double iron doors,
provided with a hydrant and the requisite hose, the
danger from fire is reduced to a minimum.
The career of the Messrs. Brinemead is indeed a
fine subject for the moralist. Thirty-six years ago,
Mr. John Brinsmead began business with two men
and a boy, and now his firm possesses the most com-
plete factory in London, and has in its employ sip.
wards of 300 men. This rise in business is due to
no sarreptitious cause; the firm have not plunged
deeply into speculation ; they have not sought sen-
sational advertisements, nor have they used any un-
fair means for rising above their fellows. At a time
when the pianoforte was little more than the luxury
of the oppulent, they set themselves out to supply a
good instrument at a figure which, while it left them
a reasonable profit, did not swindle the purchaser
into paying is fancy price. They have invented and
patented important improvements of the instrument,
it is true, and they have, in a perfectly legitimate
manner, by advertisement and otherwise, brought
these improvements before the 'public; but these are
not the only reasons of their success. Strict in-
tegrity in their business dealings, business-like
habits, sound knowledge of their work, and the exer-
cise of their natural talents, have laid the foundation
of a connection which is now most extensive.