<HTML><BODY style="word-wrap: break-word; -khtml-nbsp-mode: space; -khtml-line-break: after-white-space; ">Ed,<DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>Thanks for your comment.</DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>Can these smudges be cleaned off? I see the importance of delivering a clean, new action. I mostly work on older pianos, and haven't worried as much about it, except trying to avoid the problem as much as possible. I generally use butane, but sometimes it leaves smudges. I don't like carrying a heat gun around from house to house. I've never cleaned off those shanks that I was unfortunate enough to smudge.</DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>Sincerely,</DIV><DIV>Gary Mushlin, MME, RPT</DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV><BR><DIV><DIV>On Apr 3, 2006, at 6:17 AM, <A href="mailto:ed440@mindspring.com">ed440@mindspring.com</A> wrote:</DIV><BR class="Apple-interchange-newline"><BLOCKQUOTE type="cite"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2900.2802" name="GENERATOR"> <DIV>Gary,</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Cosmetics matter when the customer is looking at the new action you're delivering, or wants to see what you've done to their piano.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>For heating shanks I've used an alcohol lamp, a butane lighter, a butane fire starter, and also the Weller heat gun and a small Ace hardware heat gun on low heat with a 5/8" nozzle attachment.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Of all of these, the heat guns are the least likely to char or smudge the shanks. They work well with the shank in a vertical orientation, so the shank can be stood upright on the rail. making it very unlikely that heat will strike any neighboring parts.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>(I'm refering here to heating shanks, not glue joints.)</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Ed Sutton<BR><BR><BR>-----Original Message----- <BR>From: Gary Mushlin <BR>Sent: Apr 3, 2006 12:41 AM <BR>To: College and University Technicians <BR>Subject: Re: [CAUT] hammer burning experiment <BR><BR><ZZZHTML><ZZZBODY style="WORD-WRAP: break-word; khtml-nbsp-mode: space; khtml-line-break: after-white-space">List,</ZZZBODY></ZZZHTML></DIV> <DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"> <DIV>My understanding is that the blackening on the shank is generally due to poor combustion of the fuel being used. This carbon deposit would appear even if another material like metal was being heated. <DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV> <DIV>I've always understood that this carbon deposit was a cosmetic problem and shouldn't impede the function of the shank. On the other hand, actual burning of the wood would be harmful.</DIV> <DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV> <DIV>Are there any comments concerning this?</DIV> <DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV> <DIV>Thanks.</DIV> <DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV> <DIV>Sincerely,</DIV> <DIV>Gary Mushlin, MME, RPT</DIV> <DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV> <DIV><BR> <DIV> <DIV>On Apr 2, 2006, at 9:45 PM, Paul Chick ((Earthlink)) wrote:</DIV><BR class="Apple-interchange-newline"> <BLOCKQUOTE type="cite"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="WORD-SPACING: 0px; FONT: 12px Helvetica; TEXT-TRANSFORM: none; COLOR: rgb(0,0,0); TEXT-INDENT: 0px; WHITE-SPACE: normal; LETTER-SPACING: normal; BORDER-COLLAPSE: separate; border-spacing: 0px 0px; khtml-text-decorations-in-effect: none; apple-text-size-adjust: auto; orphans: 2; widows: 2"> <DIV class="Section1"><P class="MsoNormal"><FONT face="Arial" color="navy" size="2"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 13px; COLOR: rgb(0,0,128); FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><O:P style="FONT-SIZE: 13px; COLOR: rgb(0,0,128); FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="FONT-SIZE: 13px; COLOR: rgb(0,0,128); FONT-FAMILY: Arial"> </SPAN></O:P></SPAN></FONT></P> <DIV><P class="MsoNormal"><B style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 16px; FONT-FAMILY: Times New Roman"><FONT face="Tahoma" size="2"><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 13px; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 13px; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma">Subject:</SPAN></SPAN></FONT></B><FONT face="Tahoma" size="2"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 13px; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="FONT-SIZE: 13px; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma"> Re: [CAUT] hammer burning experiment</SPAN></SPAN></FONT><O:P style="FONT-SIZE: 16px; FONT-FAMILY: Times New Roman"></O:P></P></DIV><P class="MsoNormal"><FONT face="Times New Roman" size="3"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 16px; FONT-FAMILY: Times New Roman"><O:P style="FONT-SIZE: 16px; FONT-FAMILY: Times New Roman"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="FONT-SIZE: 16px; FONT-FAMILY: Times New Roman"> </SPAN></O:P></SPAN></FONT></P><P class="MsoNormal"><FONT face="Arial" color="navy" size="2"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 13px; COLOR: rgb(0,0,128); FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="FONT-SIZE: 13px; COLOR: rgb(0,0,128); FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Jon,</SPAN><O:P style="FONT-SIZE: 13px; COLOR: rgb(0,0,128); FONT-FAMILY: Arial"></O:P></SPAN></FONT></P><P class="MsoNormal"><FONT face="Arial" color="navy" size="2"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 13px; COLOR: rgb(0,0,128); FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><O:P style="FONT-SIZE: 13px; COLOR: rgb(0,0,128); FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="FONT-SIZE: 13px; COLOR: rgb(0,0,128); FONT-FAMILY: Arial"> </SPAN></O:P></SPAN></FONT></P><P class="MsoNormal"><FONT face="Arial" color="navy" size="2"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 13px; COLOR: rgb(0,0,128); FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="FONT-SIZE: 13px; COLOR: rgb(0,0,128); FONT-FAMILY: Arial">IMO alcohol seems to burn (blacken) the shank easier than butane. As long as the shank is held in the blue flame it won?t burn. Don?t you find this to be true?</SPAN><O:P style="FONT-SIZE: 13px; COLOR: rgb(0,0,128); FONT-FAMILY: Arial"></O:P></SPAN></FONT></P><P class="MsoNormal"><FONT face="Arial" color="navy" size="2"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 13px; COLOR: rgb(0,0,128); FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><O:P style="FONT-SIZE: 13px; COLOR: rgb(0,0,128); FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="FONT-SIZE: 13px; COLOR: rgb(0,0,128); FONT-FAMILY: Arial"> </SPAN></O:P></SPAN></FONT></P><P class="MsoNormal"><FONT face="Arial" color="navy" size="2"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 13px; COLOR: rgb(0,0,128); FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="FONT-SIZE: 13px; COLOR: rgb(0,0,128); FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Jim</SPAN><O:P style="FONT-SIZE: 13px; COLOR: rgb(0,0,128); FONT-FAMILY: Arial"></O:P></SPAN></FONT></P><P class="MsoNormal"><FONT face="Arial" color="navy" size="2"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 13px; COLOR: rgb(0,0,128); FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><O:P style="FONT-SIZE: 13px; COLOR: rgb(0,0,128); FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="FONT-SIZE: 13px; COLOR: rgb(0,0,128); FONT-FAMILY: Arial"> </SPAN></O:P></SPAN></FONT></P> <DIV> <DIV class="MsoNormal" style="FONT-SIZE: 16px; FONT-FAMILY: Times New Roman; TEXT-ALIGN: center" align="center"><FONT face="Times New Roman" size="3"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 16px; FONT-FAMILY: Times New Roman; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="FONT-SIZE: 16px; FONT-FAMILY: Times New Roman; TEXT-ALIGN: center"></SPAN> <HR tabindex="-1" align="center" width="100%" size="2"> </SPAN></FONT></DIV><P class="MsoNormal"><B style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 16px; FONT-FAMILY: Times New Roman"><FONT face="Tahoma" size="2"><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 13px; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 13px; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma">Subject:</SPAN></SPAN></FONT></B><FONT face="Tahoma" size="2"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 13px; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="FONT-SIZE: 13px; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma"> [CAUT] hammer burning experiment</SPAN></SPAN></FONT><O:P style="FONT-SIZE: 16px; FONT-FAMILY: Times New Roman"></O:P></P></DIV><P class="MsoNormal"><FONT face="Times New Roman" size="3"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 16px; FONT-FAMILY: Times New Roman"><O:P style="FONT-SIZE: 16px; FONT-FAMILY: Times New Roman"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="FONT-SIZE: 16px; FONT-FAMILY: Times New Roman"> </SPAN></O:P></SPAN></FONT></P> <DIV><P class="MsoNormal"><FONT face="Arial" color="black" size="1"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10px; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="FONT-SIZE: 10px; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">>As I said, I heat the shank at the hammer. The question I have is, where do</SPAN><BR style="FONT-SIZE: 10px; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="FONT-SIZE: 10px; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">>you guys heat the shank? How far from the hammer?</SPAN></SPAN></FONT><O:P style="FONT-SIZE: 16px; FONT-FAMILY: Times New Roman"></O:P></P></DIV> <DIV><P class="MsoNormal"><FONT face="Times New Roman" size="3"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 16px; FONT-FAMILY: Times New Roman"><O:P style="FONT-SIZE: 16px; FONT-FAMILY: Times New Roman"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="FONT-SIZE: 16px; FONT-FAMILY: Times New Roman"> </SPAN></O:P></SPAN></FONT></P></DIV> <DIV><P class="MsoNormal"><FONT face="Times New Roman" size="3"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 16px; FONT-FAMILY: Times New Roman"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="FONT-SIZE: 16px; FONT-FAMILY: Times New Roman">I heat with an alcohol lamp and wave the flame under the length of the shank</SPAN><O:P style="FONT-SIZE: 16px; FONT-FAMILY: Times New Roman"></O:P></SPAN></FONT></P></DIV> <DIV><P class="MsoNormal"><FONT face="Times New Roman" size="3"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 16px; FONT-FAMILY: Times New Roman"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="FONT-SIZE: 16px; FONT-FAMILY: Times New Roman">while holding/rotating the hammer in the corrected direction until the shank</SPAN><O:P style="FONT-SIZE: 16px; FONT-FAMILY: Times New Roman"></O:P></SPAN></FONT></P></DIV> <DIV><P class="MsoNormal"><FONT face="Times New Roman" size="3"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 16px; FONT-FAMILY: Times New Roman"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="FONT-SIZE: 16px; FONT-FAMILY: Times New Roman">heats up enough to feel it 'give'. Hold the hammer for a few seconds longer</SPAN><O:P style="FONT-SIZE: 16px; FONT-FAMILY: Times New Roman"></O:P></SPAN></FONT></P></DIV> <DIV><P class="MsoNormal"><FONT face="Times New Roman" size="3"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 16px; FONT-FAMILY: Times New Roman"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="FONT-SIZE: 16px; FONT-FAMILY: Times New Roman">with no flame to set. I was instructed not to concentrate the heat on one spot.</SPAN><O:P style="FONT-SIZE: 16px; FONT-FAMILY: Times New Roman"></O:P></SPAN></FONT></P></DIV> <DIV><P class="MsoNormal"><FONT face="Times New Roman" size="3"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 16px; FONT-FAMILY: Times New Roman"><O:P style="FONT-SIZE: 16px; FONT-FAMILY: Times New Roman"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="FONT-SIZE: 16px; FONT-FAMILY: Times New Roman"> </SPAN></O:P></SPAN></FONT></P></DIV> <DIV><P class="MsoNormal"><FONT face="Times New Roman" size="3"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 16px; FONT-FAMILY: Times New Roman"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="FONT-SIZE: 16px; FONT-FAMILY: Times New Roman">Jon Page</SPAN><O:P style="FONT-SIZE: 16px; FONT-FAMILY: Times New Roman"></O:P></SPAN></FONT></P><P class="MsoNormal"><FONT face="Arial" color="navy" size="2"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 13px; COLOR: rgb(0,0,128); FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><O:P style="FONT-SIZE: 13px; COLOR: rgb(0,0,128); FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="FONT-SIZE: 13px; COLOR: rgb(0,0,128); FONT-FAMILY: Arial"> </SPAN></O:P></SPAN></FONT></P><P class="MsoNormal"><FONT face="Arial" color="navy" size="2"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 13px; COLOR: rgb(0,0,128); FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="FONT-SIZE: 13px; COLOR: rgb(0,0,128); FONT-FAMILY: Arial">?Where the flame is blue, there?s no residue.? Steinway school.</SPAN><O:P style="FONT-SIZE: 13px; COLOR: rgb(0,0,128); FONT-FAMILY: Arial"></O:P></SPAN></FONT></P><P class="MsoNormal"><FONT face="Arial" color="navy" size="2"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 13px; COLOR: rgb(0,0,128); FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><O:P style="FONT-SIZE: 13px; COLOR: rgb(0,0,128); FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="FONT-SIZE: 13px; COLOR: rgb(0,0,128); FONT-FAMILY: Arial"> </SPAN></O:P></SPAN></FONT></P><P class="MsoNormal"><FONT face="Arial" color="navy" size="2"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 13px; COLOR: rgb(0,0,128); FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="FONT-SIZE: 13px; COLOR: rgb(0,0,128); FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Paul C</SPAN><O:P style="FONT-SIZE: 13px; COLOR: rgb(0,0,128); FONT-FAMILY: Arial"></O:P></SPAN></FONT></P></DIV></DIV><BR class="Apple-interchange-newline"></SPAN></BLOCKQUOTE></DIV><BR></DIV></DIV></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></DIV><BR></DIV></BODY></HTML>