[pianotech] Tool for hammer burning

[Ed Sutton]

I'm not familiar with an electric hobby heat gun as you describe.
I can't recommend the little mini-butane torch from art supply stores. It is very, very cute, but just doesn't make enough heat to do much more than scorch a tiny place.
Ed Sutton
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: John Formsma 
  To: pianotech at ptg.org 
  Sent: Saturday, February 28, 2009 10:53 AM
  Subject: Re: [pianotech] Tool for hammer burning


  I use the Princess heat gun.  I think it came from Schaff, and I've had it for some years now.  Works well -- no flame or chance of combustion. :-)


  Some have mentioned a smaller heat gun from Hobby Lobby (maybe from Wal-Mart also). They are used in crafts, like melting certain glitters on greeting cards -- that sort of thing. Seems like they were about $20.00.  I'm not certain that they work for "burning" shanks -- just remembering what others have said.  


  It would be worth a try, and the price is cheap enough.  If memory is correct, the degree of heat (pun intended) is about half that of the Princess gun. It is what I will try should the Princess ever be dethroned.


  --
  JF


  On Sat, Feb 28, 2009 at 12:49 AM, Andrew Cherry <ajc at foobox.com> wrote:

    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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