Well, before we started using heat guns, we did use a flame and the shanks did turn brown. Of course they don't go up in flames. but if you did that to your finger, you would say, I burned my finger. <G> On the other hand if your bread turns brown it's toast and if it turns black it's burnt. Maybe your right, we should call it toasting the shanks. <ggggrrrr> Anon -------------------------------------------------- From: "Porritt, David" <dporritt at mail.smu.edu> Sent: Saturday, February 28, 2009 9:27 AM To: <pianotech at ptg.org> Subject: Re: [pianotech] Tool for hammer burning > Andrew: > > I don't do any field work anymore so it's handy for me but I only use a > heat gun for "burning" shanks. That's one of the ironies of our > nomenclature, in "burning" shanks you're actually not supposed to burn > them! > > dp > > > David M. Porritt, RPT > dporritt at smu.edu > > -----Original Message----- > From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On > Behalf Of Andrew Cherry > Sent: Saturday, February 28, 2009 12:50 AM > To: pianotech at ptg.org > Subject: [pianotech] Tool for hammer burning > > Hello- > > I'm a student at the Chicago School for Piano Technology, and this is > my first time posting on the list (though I've been lurking for some > time); greetings to everyone! > > We recently covered burning hammer shanks in class, and after noticing > how much carbon has to be cleaned off the shank due to the open flame, > it occurred to me to try a tool I had at home. It's the Weller > Pyropen Jr. (WSTA6), which is a small portable butane-powered > soldering iron that also comes with a hot air tip. It's the latter > mode that I decided to try for hammer burning, since the hot air won't > cause carbon deposits the way an open flame would. I figured that if > it was hot enough to melt solder it might work for hammers (according > to the spec sheet, it generates hot air at around 800 degrees F). > Paul Revenko-Jones and I tried it out tonight, and sure enough, it > worked quite well! Paul mentioned that he uses a heat gun for such > things, but that it's more cumbersome to deal with, and the Pyropen is > cordless and small enough to easily throw into a tool bag. I got > mine at a local Fry's for about $50 (note, you need to buy a can of > butane as well, it doesn't come with fuel) so it's not as cheap as an > aim-n-flame but not super expensive either. Besides, I seem to > remember some previous talk on the list about piano tuners rolling in > doe, bucks, etc. :-) > > It also works well for its primary purpose as a soldering iron (and > heats up in less than a minute). The only complaint I have about mine > is that it's occasionally a bit reluctant to ignite, but I don't know > if all of them are like that or just mine. > > Anyway, I thought I'd mention it in case anyone else might be > interested, since it seems like a nifty use of the tool, and Paul > seemed pretty excited about it. :-) > > Here are some links. Fry's seems to have the best price (like I said, > I bought mine at a local store.. instant gratification!): > > http://www.cooperhandtools.com/onlinecatalog/literature/55702.pdf > http://shop3.frys.com/product/2461450#detailed > > BTW, I have no affiliation with Weller, Fry's, etc; just happy to find > that non-piano tools I already own come in handy for piano tech work. > > Take care... > > -Andrew > > > >
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