stiffest tuning hammer

[Diane Hofstetter]

I have a hybrid tuning hammer.  A good friend gave me a beautiful-looking Schaff extension hammer made of rosewood.  I loved the handle, but the head was constantly coming loose and the part that tightened around the shaft would also loosen up.  

Then one day, another friend got a Jahn light weight hammer that he just loves.  He said it has cut his tuning time by 15 minutes a piano.  So, I started measuring things, discussed it with Pianotek (they told me I could return it if it didn't work) and so I tried it out:  I inserted a Jahn extension shaft into my Schaff handle, added a 15degree two-ended head, and a tip.  Nicest hammer I have ever owned!  For a third of the cost of a new Jahn extension hammer, and with the handle I love.  No more struggling with that loose Schaff shaft!

 Diane




stiffest tuning hammer
John Formsma formsma at gmail.com 
Sun Aug 24 20:23:10 MDT 2008


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________________________________


Les, I have a Fujan and like it quite well.  However, I also have a homemade
lever made with a Jahn 5º head.  For some applications, it works better than
the Fujan.  Particularly, with the jerk or impact method of tuning.  I
prefer the Fujan when I'm doing a smooth pull method.  And it feels to me
that the extra mass of my homemade lever does better with the impact method
(not to mention that it would also scientifically calculate to less effort
with that method).
I'm theorizing that the lighter levers might be preferred by the primarily
smooth pull tuners.  Which leads me to ask other Fujan users: Are any of you
fellow finicky feisty foppish Fujan aficionados mainly smooth pull tuners?
 Or, do some of you primarily use the impact method with the Fujan?

--
JF

On Sat, Aug 23, 2008 at 10:18 PM, Leslie Bartlett
>wrote:

>  I'm not "in" on this discussion, but I have made my own hammers out of a
> Schaff rod with a bit of stainless welded to the end, and they are light and
> plenty stiff.  There's a local tech who uses the Jahn exclusively and has
> sung its praises while cursing the 15-degree head. I caught him one day and
> showed him the junk I use, so he wanted to try it.  "Wow," said he. "That
> feels really nice." The guy has a masters in piano performance, and is the
> best tech at the biggest store in town.  So, there are working alternatives
> to the very expensive hammers. I think I have about $20 dollars in mine,
> including the $1.95 ball on the end. I carry two of them, plus one of the
> "midget" extension things, and go back and forth, using often all three in a
> single tuning. When working a difficult tuning my brain and arms go a bit
> more nuts than usual and I need the change which the switch off brings.
> les bartlett
>
>


Diane Hofstetter