> From: erwinspiano at aol.com > Date: January 30, 2010 5:15:15 PM EST > Jon, How long did it take to free the block from the case? a minute or 2? > Dale Hi Dale, I used the HF Multi-Tool to cut out one Steinway pinblock. It had plenty of power, but one big drawback, which is that since you are basically plunge cutting down, the sawdust has nowhere to go (at least until you break through), and the blade gets hot. You can probably imagine what comes next: yep, the invigorating (overpowering?) aroma of burning sugar maple in the morning (or afternoon or evening). Because of the high sugar content, maple is one of the woods most prone to burning while machining. In this case, the trapped sawdust got chopped and re-chopped until it was a mass of fine, burnt, dark brown powder. As for total time spent, I spent about an hour on it. Most of that time was spent just doing other tasks while waiting for the blade and the block to cool down; the actual cutting time was perhaps 5-10 minutes, tops. Even still, the shop smelled like burning maple for a day or so. The next time I try it, I intend to aim compressed air or my vortex chiller at the cutting point, both to cool things down and to excavate the resulting fine sawdust. I'll probably also keep the shop vac hose on the other side of the blade to catch that fine maple sawdust. It's what I should have done the first time, and might be worth considering for anyone else who decided to try it. Of course, the "quick and easy" aspect of the whole operation greatly diminishes once you get out, mount, and continually reposition your compressed air/chiller and vacuum hose. Worth the trouble? I don't know, and would like to hear about anyone else's experiences and methods, especially if the "burning maple" problem was mitigated more easily. Joe DeFazio Pittsburgh -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/pianotech.php/attachments/20100130/8caa0a78/attachment.htm>
This PTG archive page provided courtesy of Moy Piano Service, LLC