[CAUT] TIP OF THE YEAR!

[Mark Cramer]

I would like to nominate and thank Fred Sturm, for what I humbly consider
the BEST TIP shared this year;

"Upside-down flange-travelling" (lay the stack hammers face down, then rock
it between hammer-rest and let-off contact to observe hammer travel)

With Fred's method, it was easy to get accurate results the very first time,
and I soon noticed a relationship between the lateral movement of the
hammers, and thickness of my favourite travel tape (3M #651 Post-it:
Correction & Cover-up tape);

i.e.: 1mm travel = 1 full strip of travel tape... 1/2mm travel = 1/2 strip,
etc.

My assistants love it! Anything that makes a routine task fun without
sacrificing precision is win-win. Nonetheless we still do a final paranoia
visual-check with the stack right-side up.

A further bonus is that Fred's method seems to work equally well
pre-travelling new shanks:

New shanks often have a vertical line through the end of the shank. By
transfering these lines to the bench, then tilting/propping the action at
let-off contact, it's possible to "one-time" all your flange travelling,
just by measuring/observing the deflection from the original lines. (I'll
attach a photo)

And I guess the final benchmark with any new tip is longevity. Suffice it to
say, after how many months using Fred's method, no-one here has any interest
in going back to "old school."

So "thanks Fred" for sharing this valuable tip, and to everyone who
participated in our CAUT discussions all year. I've learned much, saved
myself some potentially frustating mistakes and  been kindly provoked to
re-think more than one of my tired old opinions. ;>)

Best wishes to all,
Mark Cramer,
Brandon University





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