Tuning Lever for a Beginner

[Ron Nossaman]

> On the other hand, I made my own after a welder added some rod to the 
> Schaff basic hex rod, have about $15 invested, and have had a number of 
> folks say they really like the feel of the two which I always carry.
> les bartlett

That's the ticket. After a number of years with a nylon 
handled non-extension Scaff lever, and another number of years 
with a lovely laminated handle Hale extension lever, I made a 
ball end lever with a 1.25" track ball purchased at a garage 
sale for $0.50, and a 9" length of 7/16" stainless steel rod I 
had salvaged from some long forgotten carcass, for possible 
future use. Pedigree issues aside, it was a dramatic step up 
in functionality for me. The price of a tuning hammer (lever, 
for the annoyingly literal) has little to do with it's 
suitability to your individual physiology and technique. It's 
about subjective comfort and control, and you begin 
calibration of same with the purchase or construction of your 
first tool. So where do you want to start? If installments of 
$200 or $350 a pop are comfortable for you, then go for the 
offered high end commercial recommendations and worry about 
what to do with the accumulated culls at tax time. Or purchase 
a mid-priced functional hammer as a first step toward defining 
what you will ultimately require, and reassess, with time and 
use, from there. Mistakes are a given. The question is whether 
to make moderate, or big ones - and how frequently.

Ron N