CyberHammer Recommendation - was RE: Tuning Hammers

[ed440 at mindspring.com]

This month is my one year anniversary with the CyberHammer.  My only regret is that I didn't have one 15 years ago.  I believe Dean has worked very hard to get the optimal weight and degrees of throw on this instrument.  In a class he offered advice on how to modify other impact hammers to get them to work well.

With an impact hammer there is no tension in the body at the moment when you listen to the pitch.  This seems to me to be part of the reason why it is easier to set high treble unisons with this tool.  The tuning effort is separate from the listening effort. It insists that you relax. I find it works easily with left or right hand and produces stable tunings like magic.  

In the course of a tuning you will automatically do a fairly equal number of clockwise and counterclockwise throws, so it "evens out" your muscle tension as Dean May wrote about.

Ed Sutton

-----Original Message-----
>From: "John M. Formsma" <john at formsmapiano.com>
>Sent: Aug 14, 2006 7:35 PM
>To: 'Pianotech List' <pianotech at ptg.org>
>Subject: CyberHammer Recommendation - was RE: Tuning Hammers
>
>Terry's post is a good segue to my recommendation of the CyberHammer. I've
>had mine for a bit over a month, and it has really been a great help. No
>more sore upper shoulder and neck.
>
>Last week I tuned 10 verticals, which would normally have sent my
>shoulder/neck into pain-land, but the CyberHammer actually made it
>enjoyable.
>
>The impact action takes some getting used to, so I would be prepared for
>that. It might even take more than a month. I had used a Mehaffey several
>years ago, so I was already somewhat familiar with impact levers, though I
>never was able to do a fine tuning with it.
>
>Now I'm tuning about as fast as normal with the CyberHammer, so I'm over the
>steepest part of the learning curve. I don't consider myself an expert -
>just not in 1st grade anymore. :-) I do think that I will become faster with
>more use.
>
>It's a huge help with pitch raises. I did one piano that was over 100 cents
>flat, and two pitch raise passes and a fine tuning took around 1 hour, 15
>minutes. This was after several pianos that took that just for one pass,
>though.
>
>I'd say if a person doesn't do several verticals a week, it might be best to
>keep using a traditional lever. It's something you wouldn't pick up in 1 or
>2 tunings.
>
>If anyone has any questions, I'd be glad to tell you what I know, but it
>ain't much.
>
>John Formsma
>
>>-----Original Message-----
>>From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On
>>Behalf Of Farrell
>>Sent: Monday, August 14, 2006 3:27 PM
>>To: Pianotech List
>>Subject: Re: Tuning Hammers
>>
>>I see a couple of good inputs so far.
>>
>>And, of course, I can guarantee you that the Keith Bowman Renner tuning
>>lever that I have is the "best" one available!
>>
>>Although, I will likely be purchasing a Cyberhammer impact lever in the
>>near
>>future.  :-)
>>
>>Seriously though, this is like asking what shoes are best for walking. The
>>answer is that there are many very fine shoes available, but you have to
>>try
>>them to see which suits you best.
>>
>>Try all the tuning levers. Try 'em and see how they feel. Everyone has a
>>slightly different technique and no one lever is going to be best for all.
>>What I find to be the cat's tushy, may give you physical pain.
>>
>>And by far the best place to try out a wide variety of tuning levers is in
>>the exhibit hall of one of the larger PTG conventions.
>>
>>Terry Farrell
>
>