[CAUT] hammer thickness trimming jig

[Ron Nossaman]

> 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


Hi Greg,
The easiest way that occurs, and possibly safest, would be to 
buy or make something like this 
http://www.specialtytuners.com/sanding_disk.html and do them 
on a drill press. I'd probably go 60 grit. A raised "pad" to 
set the hammer on will accommodate the side angle of the 
shank, and a strip of wood tacked on the pad will give you a 
fence to hold the hammer against to avoid spontaneous 
launching. A couple of "bites" on each side, keeping the shank 
clear of the disc, should be able to thin them to whatever you 
need. I presume the tails are already tapered, and will likely 
be narrow enough without further work??? The bigger hammers 
will be easy to keep flat, and the sides parallel, but the 
treble hammers get tougher. If the trebles are hung square to 
the shank, that gives you an outrigger (the shank) to square 
the hammer to the sander with another block of wood clamped to 
the table for the shank to rest on. You might find it easier 
to make two separate setups. One elevated for the "shank down" 
side of the angled hammers and one flat with outrigger support 
for the "shank up" side of the angled hammers (which will be 
wide enough to control without the outrigger), and both sides 
of the smaller square hung hammers. Either way, it's more work 
than thinning prior to hanging.

Let us know what works for you.
Ron N