Hammer tapering Jig

[John Delacour]

At 5:42 pm -0400 13/5/02, Greg Newell wrote:

| Sometime ago we were talking about hammer tapering jigs and I remember a 
| post from Jon Page (I think) who had a design whereby you could taper the 
| tail while it is on the shank. This is impossible with Bill Spurlock's jig 
| and.....

I do all my tapering with an extremely sharp rabbet plane and though it is easier to do it without the shanks, it is quite feasible with the shanks on.  I generally need about eight pulls per side to taper the square Steinway tails from 12 mm down to 7 or 8.  Hold the plane in one hand and pull the hammer towards you over the plane blade.  I need hardly say that you need to keep your fingers in the right position.  I hold the felt between thumb and third finger while pressing the tail agains the plane with my index finger.

I recognise this is a slower procedure than using sanding tools, but the result is far cleaner and better looking and the method is traditional.

JD