[CAUT] Hammer shank cutting block

[Ed Sutton]

Ted-

For a long time I used this tool as shown, with a large pull saw, cutting toward the hammer head. This required some care to avoid slicing the hammer felt. 
Lately I've realized that with a smaller saw, I can cut with the saw facing away from the hammer head, and can usually cut the shank in two pulls without risk of cutting the hammer felt. 
It may be possible to redesign the tool to provide better support for this, with a supporting groove on the tail side of the shank and feet that reach around to rest on the flange rail.

Ed Sutton
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Edward Sambell 
  To: caut at ptg.org 
  Sent: Saturday, September 18, 2010 12:42 AM
  Subject: Re: [CAUT] Hammer shank cutting block


  Also, refer to my post on Thurs 9/18 !2.48 pm. If there are questions, I will be glad to answer them. I want to reiterate that a Western saw must not be used with the block. Japanese saws cut on the pull stroke, as I am sure we all know. Assuming one is right handed (I am left handed) the block is held in place with the left hand, which also holds the hammershank snug in the groove. As the saw blade is drawn to the right, the block is stable. If it were moving to the left as would be necessary with a western saw, and the saw snagged, the block would tilt upward and damage the center.Thus, this tool would never have been possible without the Asian pull saw. In Carl Johan-Forss's book on repairs there is a comparable jig for Western saws, but it is much more complicated and it looks less efficient.

  Ironically, I left the one I had at the Banff Center when I retired, as I did not want to deprive their shop of what proved to be an essential item. I had made a few and given them away, so now I have no means of making them.I might be able to fashion one by assembling small pieces though. I also very strongly want to state the idea of the block is not mine. I got it during  the 1989 IAPBT Asian tour. Yat-Lam Hong attended a class where a Kawai technician demonstrated a similar block, and made a simple sketch without details. If he had not done that I would never have known of it. So the credit goes to Kawai and Yat-Lam. I am happy to pass the idea on. Although I prefer it to the several other methods I had used in the past, I am not touting it as superior to any other method. These days, we exchange so much information, there are always new ideas coming at us, and piano technicians are such an ingenious lot.

  Regards to all, Ted Sambell






------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  From: Zeno Wood <zeno.wood at gmail.com>
  To: College and University Technicians <caut at ptg.org>
  Sent: Fri, September 17, 2010 9:51:57 PM
  Subject: [CAUT] Hammer shank cutting block

  Attached is the photo of Ted Sambell's hammer shank cutting block.  He also says that "The idea of the three grooves is that the center one only is used until one reaches the last two or three notes at the top or bottom, so that the full width of the block sits on the flanges, which keeps it stable."



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