Alcohol lamp

[John Musselwhite]

>Help please.  What type alcohol works best for hammer shank burning and at
>the same time is safest to use?

Up here in the frozen north (HA!) we (I) generally use gas-line anti-freeze,
a component added to your gas tank to prevent the lines from freezing in the
winter. We buy it as "methyl hydrate" and buy it by the gallon rather than
the ounce as gas-line anti-freeze but it's the same stuff without the
colouring. I'd be interested to know what people use for wicks though if
they don't buy them commercially. I generally just twist up a foot or so of
cotton string but there might be something better, if not cheaper.

In the field I carry and use use a butane-powered soldering pencil with a
heat tip. It doesn't leak, blows up to 1,000 degrees F. within seconds,
won't set fire to anything if you tilt it too much and lets you do soldering
if you need to without running an extension cord. The identical pencil was
reviewed in a Journal article last year and for general burning in the field
is ideal. Mind you, in the shop I still prefer the alcohol powered "Aladin's
Lamp", probably because  we've been doing it that way in our family for the
last 100 years.  Mind you, I'm still using some of my grandfather's tools
from the last century as well. I've broken two modern tuning hammers in the
last 10 years and have gone back to the Hale my grandfather purchased in
1910 with the same tip my father bought before I was born.  It _works_!

On that note, my dad, who learned to tune from his father in 1920, just
shakes his head when I pull out the butane pencil and an Accu-Tuner II or
show him articles from current Journals. He hasn't tuned a piano for almost
15 years and is amazed at the current level of piano technology - not only
in the hardware (tools) but the software/firmware such as the the PTG, the
Journal and of course this mailing list as well.

He does get a chuckle out of the fact that with all this technology and
knowledge the physical tool I require to practice the art is 85 years old
and is apparantly more efficient than a modern product.

                John
John Musselwhite, RPT               Calgary, Alberta Canada
musselj@cadvision.com              sysop@67.cambo.cuug.ab.ca
The Calgary Exhibition and Stampede - July 7-16, 1995
http://www.calgary-stampede.ab.ca/