Shank excess

[Kdivad@AOL.COM]

In a message dated Tue, 18 Jun 2002  8:23:07 PM Eastern Daylight Time, davidlovepianos@earthlink.net writes:

> 
> 
> I use a Japanese pull saw.  After the hammers are hung, I remove each one
> from the rail, trim the shank, tail the hammer, take the strike weight and
> record it on a spread sheet.
> 
> If you are not taking the SW's and therefore don't want to remove each one
> from the rail, you can stand the action up on the front side of the brackets
> so that the hammers fall strike point down.  With the stack on your right
> (if you are right handed) pull the hammers down one at a time to cut them.
> Hold the hammer with your fingers and cut through with a pull saw.  To keep
> from cutting into your fingers, put a block of wood on the other side of the
> hammer head.  Tilt the saw forward slightly as you cut so that when it cuts
> through the tip of the saw lands on the block before it cuts into your hand.
> When you are done, clean the ends of the shank with a disk sander.
> 
> David Love
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "phil frankenberg" <rinkyd@pacbell.net>
> To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
> Sent: June 18, 2002 2:22 PM
> Subject: Shank excess
> 
> 
> I would love to hear some of the methods for trimming excess grand shanks.
> It's always been a struggle for me. I've used hand jigsaws, small drum
> sanders, flexblades from Bill Spurlock, etc. Years ago I had a dremel rotary
> saw blade that worked well, but it seems to be no longer 
> available. How do
> you do it?
> 
> Thanks
> 
> Phil Frankenberg
> Chico Ca.

I personally don't like to pull the hammers from the rail so I use the "stand the frame on the front" technique but instead of holding the hammers by hand I use a drill vice with rubber on the bottom (no sliding) and clamp each hammer before I use a small razor saw to cut.  Very stable protecting the flange and making the cutting go very fast.
David Koelzer
DFW