I got one of those $200 electric hammershank pliers ( when they were available ) and they worked gioriously until one of the elements burnt out ( especially for twisting shanks, as the cauls themselves are straight ).
Anyone know where to get re-placement elements? All these things are,
I believe, are modified professional hair-curling irons, so elements SHOULD be available, but the letters on them ( itty bitty ) are in Gereman, and me no speke.
Euphonious Thumpe
--- On Sat, 2/28/09, Porritt, David <dporritt at mail.smu.edu> wrote:
> From: Porritt, David <dporritt at mail.smu.edu>
> Subject: Re: [pianotech] Tool for hammer burning
> To: "pianotech at ptg.org" <pianotech at ptg.org>
> Date: Saturday, February 28, 2009, 9:27 AM
> 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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