[CAUT] impact hammer

[Jeff Tanner]

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On Nov 11, 2005, at 12:21 PM, Jim Busby wrote:

> I have never gotten the hang of the impact lever myself. I tuned a
> couple of pianos with it and it almost ended up in the circular  
> file. (I
> know, only 2 pianos!)I must have been doing something wrong because  
> the
> learning curve didn't seem shorter. Maybe you can't teach an old  
> dog new
> tricks.
>
> When I was using it I actually found myself getting frustrated and  
> using
> it like a conventional hammer. Dumb, I know. I just couldn't get it to
> "the place" I wanted it, ever! Otto's advice from past posts have been
> good, but I guess I'm not patient enough.
>
> Jim
>

I'm like you Jim.  I tried one of the impact hammers APSCO sold (our  
tuba professor owns it - go figure).  I didn't have as much patience  
as you did.  I almost slung his out the window (except its got one of  
those great older APSCO #2 tips on it that fits everything and I  
didn't want to lose that!).  I "tuned at" about two octaves and just  
felt like I would never be able to have any confidence in the  
stability of the tuning, especially as I was moving into the treble.   
With tighter pins, I found myself trying to use it like a  
conventional hammer to avoid the major third leaps.  With my hammer,  
I can feel every hundredth of an inch of movement in a pin because it  
fits so solidly on 99.999% of the tuning pins.  The impact hammer was  
completely the opposite - no feeling of connection at all, complete  
absence of control.  I couldn't feel anything but jumping around and  
I couldn't control how far it would go before it would stop.  I don't  
think I'll try it again.

In answer to Wim's original question that started this thread, I  
generally move around quite a bit while tuning verticals.  I'm 6 feet  
tall, and there is no comfortable position for me.  Even my hand  
position will change around.  It all depends on the feel of the pins,  
where I am in the scale, the height of the piano, whatever is the  
most comfortable and gives the most control at the time.

Jeff


Jeff Tanner, RPT
University of South Carolina




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