Reams have been written about the above subject: pros, cons, and more
cons.  After I wrote that series on the piano factories, I realized
that I had not said too much about the glue they used, except that
Wurlitzer used hot hide glue for the veneering process.  Everything
else at Wurlitzer used the same glue.  When I asked what it was, they
said simply, "wood assembly glue."

The engineers at Wurlitzer told me that one of the biggest problems
that they had faced in the automation process, such as it was, was the
distribution of glue over parts to be mated.  Large wooden pieces like
the soundboard ribs, bridges and piano cases were assembled with the
aid of "glue wheels."  I have no idea whether they were an invention of
Wurlitzer, but I had never seen anything like them before, nor since,
in any of the piano factories I had visited.

Imagine an aluminum cylinder approximately six inches in diameter and
eight to ten inches long, on a shaft running through the long end.
This cylinder rotated in pillow blocks driven by a small electric
motor.  The lower part of the cylinder rotates in a pan not unlike a
bread loaf pan filled with glue.  The cylinder picks up the glue and as
it rotates is kept covered with glue.  On one side of the cylinder,
perpendicular to the axis, is an aluminum plate that scrapes a portion
of the glue off of the wheel as it rotates.  The gap between the plate
and the cylinder can be adjusted so you can control how much glue gets
on the cylinder.

These glue wheels were _everywhere_ in the factory.  The parts to be
glued were simply "walked" across the face of the cylinder and received
an even coating of glue.  At the end of the shift, the women lifted the
cylinders out of the pillow blocks and submerged them in a bucket of
water at their workstation.  The glue in the pan acquired a "skin"
overnight which was skimmed off in the morning as production resumed.

In the back department, to speed up the setting process, the
sound boards and ribs were heated in ovens over each gluing station.
Well, they were warmed, not really heated.  The warming of the parts
speeded up the setting process.  With the exception of the
aforementioned veneering process, everything used that white glue.

I wanted some.  I was told that it was bought in 55-gallon drums from a
firm in Memphis.  I called them today to see if they minded me putting
their name on the net -- just wanted to be sure.  They said yes, and
George Parker, head of the firm, filled me in on what had happened to
the piano business in that part of the country since I had been there
16 years ago.

His company still sells the glue to piano factories.  They sold it to
Aeolian also.  The old Wurlitzer factory building is now used to make
air conditioning filters, and Baldwin bought a lot of the equipment and
uses it in its various plants in the south.

The glue is ONLY available in 5-gallon pails.  The cost is $50.00 per
pail, FOB Memphis.  I have used it for years, and just got another pail
last fall, and yes, I still use a glue wheel when I build organ pipes.
It works great.

   Mid South Adhesives
   P. O. Box 1000
   Memphis, TN  38148-3144
   901-795-1943

The glue has a more modern name that it did in 1982: they now call it
Master Grip 79.

One final thing that George told me of interest to me, and maybe you,
was the fact that Wurlitzer was having problems with gluing keytops on
the keys.  Women were cutting their hands on the sharp edges of dried
glue that had oozed out.  Mid South added a "color brightener" to the
glue, the finished keys passed under a black light, and the woman could
see the excess glue.  Problem solved.

Ed Gaida

P.S.  The guys in the brown trucks will bring it to you if you order
some.