physically getting hammers on shanks

[ed miller]

Would any one please share their technique for shanking up hammers for a 
vertical piano? What is your procedure for physically putting the shank 
inside the hammer (new hammers on new shanks)...its such a tight fit?! Do 
you only use your hands to push them together, do you use a hand tool to 
firmly grab the shank and twist it into the hammer, do you tap the shank 
into the bored hammer with a hammer (tool), etc......?

I'm in the process of putting new hammers on new shanks (for the first time) 
and have tried a few techniques so far. After doing my first 16 I've 
realized that I'm getting varying rake angles on many of them. This is 
obviously a problem and is probably a result of my procedure.

The hammers were bored by Brooks, Ltd. I knurled the shanks myself with a 
shank knurling hand tool (as opposed to the bench top version)- so they are 
not perfectly even around, though I did a good job.


Thanks,
Ed

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