We used to build our own here in our little corner of Wisconsin and it's not all that difficult. All of the necessary parts can be acquired from a hardware store or home center. A doorbell transformer 10 to 14 volt is sufficient, some AC cord and an AC plug for the AC side of the transformer. Some DC wire about 10 gauge is sufficient and some connectors both the crimp kind for splicing 2 ends together and the round ended kind to bolt through. A small piece of masonite, hardboard or even pegboard about 1/2" X 3/4" and a large tweezers and lastly a small diameter non-metallic bolt and nut. You begin by disconnecting the two arms of the tweezers, you can also make the tweezer arms from old hack saw blades cut in half, grinding one end to a point and bending it over. Clamp the tweezer arms with the masonite or whatever you choose to use, between them and drill a hole large enough for the small bolt to fit through. Attach the AC cords to the approriate ends of the transformer and the plug to the end of the cord. (I used an old lamp cord with a pre-molded plug) Attach the 10 Ga wires to the DC side of the transformer, attach the round ended connectors to the open ends of the wire and attach those ends on either side of the tweezers with the bolt and nut and washers if necessary. You might want to mount it on a small board for portability and ease of storage. Plug it in and lightly touch the ends to one another if you see a spark you have succeeded, if not check your connections. Remember it is important that the two "sides" of the "circuit" or tweezers are insulated from one another until they contact the center pin When using this device do not hold it on the pin ends longer than a few seconds, they heat up VERY quickly! Don't ask me how I know! (grin) Mike I intend to live forever. So far, so good. Steven Wright Michael Magness Magness Piano Service 608-786-4404 www.IFixPianos.com email mike at ifixpianos.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/pianotech_ptg.org/attachments/20081231/81bb990c/attachment.html>
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