Baldwin tunes up its finishing lines.

The addition of high-gloss finishes prompts this venerated piano maker to upgrade dust collection.

The Grand piano, once considered an essential showpiece for every upscale American parlor, has recently enjoyed a resurgence in popularity. Yet today's grand pianos are decidedly a new generation of instruments.

Many of today's most popular pianos are equipped with innovative features, ranging from built-in computer hard drives to automated CD players to thick, highly polished finishes. To meet the changing needs of the marketplace, one of the challenges faced by veteran piano manufacturer Baldwin Piano has been to develop methods to produce several models of its pianos with the popular new high-gloss finishes. These new finishes use polyester resin in place of conventional lacquer.

"Polyester resin dust generated during the finishing process is both finer and heavier than wood and lacquer dust, which makes it much more difficult to capture," says Keith Van Pelt, plant manager at Baldwin's Conway, AR, production facility. "We needed a dust collection system that would ensure a clean and safe working environment for our employees. We also knew that even the slightest amount of dust contamination could result in costly, excessive rework, underscoring the need for a highly efficient method of dust collection."

The solution the company hit upon was a new Tenkay Air Quality Booth (AQB) cartridge dust collection system, designed and manufactured by Farr Co. of Jonesboro, AR, which meets Baldwin's specifications.

Developing the Right Collection System

To collect dust during finishing processes, Baldwin had previously relied on exhaust booth systems, designed and fabricated in-house, utilizing tube axial exhaust fans. "Though the system was adequate for removal of wood dust, it did not work on the more challenging polyester resin contaminant," says Bob Sowell, a corporate facilities engineer with Baldwin.

"In looking for a more effective solution, we established several criteria: Not only must the system be highly efficient, it should also be specifically designed to prevent dust cross-contamination as pianos moved down the finishing line. In addition, it should offer production flexibility, installation and maintenance ease, and dependable operation."

To meet these requirements, Farr installed a booth-type system incorporating cartridge collectors. The system was designed to provide a strong cross-draft in the work area, pulling the polyester dust away from the worker. A key feature of the booth is a cantilevered, self-supporting roof over the filter module. This booth design creates a well-lit work area unobstructed by permanent walls or exhaust hoods, providing Baldwin with optimum manufacturing flexibility.

In addition to its cantilevered roof, the new system incorporates filter module, blowers, light fixtures and controls that are accessible from inside the booth for ease of maintenance. The integral fan is designed for quiet operation, but sound-absorbing panels are available as an option if further noise reduction is desired. The Tenkay filter elements use helical cord retainers to support the filter media, eliminating the need for a metal screen for filtering which can impede backflushing, plug up with dust, or cause a variety of other performance problems.

The initial system built for Baldwin contains 10 individual booth modules. Each module is 6 feet long, with a 6-foot spacer panel between adjacent modules. Each unit draws 5,500 cfm, for a total airflow of 55,000 cfm, and is equipped with eight filter elements per booth. Because the system is virtually self-contained, Baldwin maintenance personnel were able to install the equipment in the Conway plant with no ductwork and minimal assembly requirements.

With a gravimetric efficiency rating of 99.999 percent, the collection system enables Baldwin to recirculate the treated air back into the plant for maximum energy efficiency. Cartridges are self-cleaned twice a day using reverse pulses of compressed air. The pulsed-off contaminants collect at the bottom of the modules in easy-to-service pullout drawers that are emptied nightly by maintenance crews.

The 120-foot-long dust collection system is used at several points in the finishing operation. First, it is used to remove wood dust generated during whitewood sanding. It then captures dust produced during sanding of the polyester resin primer, where effective collection is especially critical. More dust must be removed during primer sanding and again during sanding and buffing of the final topcoat.

"The system not only keeps the individual work areas dust-free, but it also washes the whole room clean, delivering an added air quality bonus," Van Pelt says.

He adds that the system can accommodate optional side curtains between modules. "We did hang curtains in a couple of areas as added insurance against cross-contamination between sanding and buffing operations, but for the most part, the system draws air across the work area so effectively that the curtains haven't been necessary."

He notes that the open design of the system, with self-supporting roofs projecting from each module, has made it easy to move the large piano cabinets down the production line with no need to worry about the tight space constraints associated with conventional booths. Also, because the system uses minimal ductwork, it can be moved or readjusted if necessary to accommodate changing production needs in the future.

New Finish a Success

In the short time since its market introduction, Baldwin's highly polished polyester resin finish has been extremely well received by dealers and consumers alike. "This has proved to be a tremendous finish for the company, and we're pleased with what we've been able to accomplish," says Van Pelt. "We believe we've developed the best finishing operation of its type in the country, and the dust collection system has been integral to our success."

It has been so integral, in fact, that Baldwin recently added a second multiple-booth Farr dust collection system in the same plant. A third, eight-booth system is also being installed in the company's Greenwood, MS, facility, where it will be used to capture wood and lacquer sanding dusts.

Baldwin has been a leading international manufacturer of pianos since 1862. Today, the company produces acoustical pianos bearing the Baldwin, Chickering and Wurlitzer brand names as well as a line of cutting-edge Pianovelle digital instruments. The company maintains corporate headquarters in Mason, OH, and five manufacturing facilities in Arkansas, Mississippi and Mexico.