favorite hammer?

[Susan Kline]

 Hi Glenn, list --

I loved reading Ed Foote's story, below. I think he has made a good
recommendation about borrowing different hammers to get one that feels
right. Don't forget to experiment with different lengths and angles of
heads, which can make a big difference. I never was really comfortable till
I tried the 7/8" tip with the 15=BA angle. No doubt a lot of people would=
 hate
it -- it's a highly individual thing. I also pull the extension way out -- I
call it the Equalizer.  Guys look at it and laugh, but my arm and shoulder
don't hurt as much after a long day.

I also carry the Schaff shop hammer ("Factory Style Tuning Lever") with my
stringing kit. It's tough, and one can turn it over and use it as a light
hammer when needed. Also, it's a backup just in case.

At 08:12 AM 3/15/97 -0500, you wrote:
> Glen asks:
>
>>I am a new tech and want to buy a good tuning hammer.  I already have a
>>piece of junk so this next one is going to be the last one (hopefully!). =
=20
>
>>Which one, how much and where?
>
>      I was very lucky to have gone to a school that had a lot of different
>hammers.    We all sorta selected one that we liked over the year.
> Unfortunately,  the one that really felt best to me was a mid 30's Schaff,
>with a rosewood handle and octagonal shank.  The sort of hammer you just
>don't go out and buy.  I got a big ol' Ford hammer,  Cause it had a brass
>ferrule.......duh.
>      I knew I had an angel, when, two months into my new career, in a
>strange town, at a garage sale,  I spoke with a man whose father had been a
>tuner. That afternoon,  I bought a 40 year old case of piano tools, and=
 right
>there in the middle was the hammer of my dreams. In beautiful shape, well
>burnished by an unknown hand, and equipped with a onepiece tip from Joe
>Kulicek, (Chicago).=20
>      =20
>       It was nestled amid rock hard mutes( Tonk Bros, Chicago), a=
 carefully
>cased blue steel "A" fork,(with the gold embossed "Standard of American
>Federation of Musicians",   a metal can of graphite, and two tins of Pure
>Mutton Tallow, one with the label "Harry McQueens ",  the other newer one
>read, " Made by Viola McQueen, widow of Harry McQueen".  Ah,  but I
>digress...........
>
>     Your hammer will need to fit you.  Your arm length, your tuning style,
>etc. =20
>The more hammers you have tried, the better chance you will have of getting
>one that naturally becomes an extension of yourself.  =20
>     Ask several tuners in your area if you might try one or two of their
>"back-ups" for a week.  Tell them that you are ready to find one that fits
>you, They should understand, and they may even sell you one that you find
>really works for you.=20
>      Use several before deciding on one.  You will soon enough recognize
>something you don't like in some, (the balance, diameter, or whatever), =
 and
>then you are well on your way to getting a focus on your own needs.  Good
>luck, and don't let a "way-expen$ive price" guide you into getting=
 something
>that doesn't really fit.=20
>
>Regards to all,=20
>
>Ed Foote
>Precision Piano Works,
>Nashville, Tn.=20
>
>       Oops, forget to mention that "Mrs. Viola McQueens Mutton Tallow"  is
>the best stuff I ever put on the keyframe guide pins of Steinways.=20
>     Some of the pianos at the school change their keyframe/keybed mating=
 on
>a yearly basis, and for six months each year, the guide blocks are earning
>their keep holding these keybeds down.  The tallow has out-performed every
>type of lubricant I tried.  go figure.........
>
>

Susan Kline, R.P.T.=20
skline@proaxis.com
P.O. Box 1651,
Philomath, OR 97370
(541) 929-3971