hammer thickness trimming jig

[Mike Spalding]

Greg,

I have vague recollections of a jig for tapering already hung hammers in 
a table saw. Similar to the Spurlock jig, but with clearance for the 
shank. Institute class handout? Journal article? Journal cover photo? 
Maybe my mentioning it here will stimulate someone's memory who can help 
you track it down.

Is it a problem throughout the piano, or only in the bass and low tenor 
where the hammers are angled? Sometimes interference in this area can be 
worked around by additional tail tapering (rather than thinning the 
head) or burning shanks to rotate the hammers towards the break. Or, how 
about the trick we sometimes see in old uprights, where the bass hammer 
shoulders have been trimmed parallel to the shank, so that the hammers 
end up with a diamond-shaped cross section? Of course, if you consider 
these approaches to be unacceptable compromises, you'll have to keep 
searching for a trimming jig.

good luck

Mike

Greg Newell wrote:
> Greetings kind folk,
> 	I’m hoping that someone out there in cyber land can help me today. I
> have the task of thickness trimming on some prehung hammers from S&S. The
> hammers came too thick for the vintage grand I’m working on as there is not
> sufficient clearance to allow reliable individual hammer movement.
> Ordinarily I would do this before hanging hammers but since these are
> pre-hung …. well I’m a bit stuck. Does anyone know of a jig that could be
> built that would accommodate trimming with the shanks on? The archives seem
> to point to something from Roger Jolly but the posts I read were not
> conclusive that one exists. Help?!?
>
> Greg Newell
> Greg's Piano Forté
> www.gregspianoforte.com
> 216-226-3791 (office)
> 216-470-8634 (mobile)
>
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