[pianotech] Tool for hammer burning

[John Formsma]

I use the Princess heat gun.  I think it came from Schaff, and I've had it
for some years now.  Works well -- no flame or chance of combustion. :-)
Some have mentioned a smaller heat gun from Hobby Lobby (maybe from Wal-Mart
also). They are used in crafts, like melting certain glitters on greeting
cards -- that sort of thing. Seems like they were about $20.00.  I'm not
certain that they work for "burning" shanks -- just remembering what others
have said.

It would be worth a try, and the price is cheap enough.  If memory is
correct, the degree of heat (pun intended) is about half that of the
Princess gun. It is what I will try should the Princess ever be dethroned.

--
JF

On Sat, Feb 28, 2009 at 12:49 AM, Andrew Cherry <ajc at foobox.com> wrote:

> Hello-
>
> I'm a student at the Chicago School for Piano Technology, and this is my
> first time posting on the list (though I've been lurking for some time);
>  greetings to everyone!
>
> We recently covered burning hammer shanks in class, and after noticing how
> much carbon has to be cleaned off the shank due to the open flame, it
> occurred to me to try a tool I had at home.  It's the Weller Pyropen Jr.
> (WSTA6), which is a small portable butane-powered soldering iron that also
> comes with a hot air tip.  It's the latter mode that I decided to try for
> hammer burning, since the hot air won't cause carbon deposits the way an
> open flame would. I figured that if it was hot enough to melt solder it
> might work for hammers (according to the spec sheet, it generates hot air at
> around 800 degrees F).  Paul Revenko-Jones and I tried it out tonight, and
> sure enough, it worked quite well!   Paul mentioned that he uses a heat gun
> for such things, but that it's more cumbersome to deal with, and the Pyropen
> is cordless and small enough to easily throw into a tool bag.   I got mine
> at a local Fry's for about $50 (note, you need to buy a can of butane as
> well, it doesn't come with fuel) so it's not as cheap as an aim-n-flame but
> not super expensive either.  Besides, I seem to remember some previous talk
> on the list about piano tuners rolling in doe, bucks, etc.  :-)
>
> It also works well for its primary purpose as a soldering iron (and heats
> up in less than a minute).  The only complaint I have about mine is that
> it's occasionally a bit reluctant to ignite, but I don't know if all of them
> are like that or just mine.
>
> Anyway, I thought I'd mention it in case anyone else might be interested,
> since it seems like a nifty use of the tool, and Paul seemed pretty excited
> about it.  :-)
>
> Here are some links.  Fry's seems to have the best price (like I said, I
> bought mine at a local store.. instant gratification!):
>
> http://www.cooperhandtools.com/onlinecatalog/literature/55702.pdf
> http://shop3.frys.com/product/2461450#detailed
>
> BTW, I have no affiliation with Weller, Fry's, etc; just happy to find that
> non-piano tools I already own come in handy for piano tech work.
>
> Take care...
>
> -Andrew
>
>
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