Benjamin Collins

Biography

Benjamin Collins was a piano and hammer maker of Boston who, about 1863, introduced an improvement on Kreter's hammer-covering machine. Taking Kreter's iron-frame machine as his pattern, Collins altered it so that the caul, or form into which the hammer is pressed, could be locked in place after the felt was glued on, and then removed from the machine along with the hammers so the operation could be repeated with another set -- a change from earlier machines that required the covered hammer to remain in place until the glue hardened. Even so, Collins' machine, like its predecessors, remained too light in construction to produce the heavy hammers required for large concert grand pianos.

Highlights

• A piano and hammer maker of Boston who, about 1863, improved on Kreter's hammer-covering machine
• Modified the iron-frame design so the caul could be locked after gluing and removed with the hammers to repeat the process on another set
• His machine, like others of the era, was still too light in construction for the heaviest concert grand hammers

Source

Alfred Dolge, Pianos and Their Makers, Vol. I (1911), p. 100.

Public domain.