I know I may be preaching to the choir here...and all this stuff may already have been said..BUT....this thing rocks...
Used it for the first time today...
Steinway L, new Henry Miller grand and a C & A Hamburg Model D.....a total dream.....
Ordered a tip to handle length of 10 inches with a 15 degree angle...#2 head...suits my style completely.
The whole thing is so light that there is no inertia to get in the way of the feel of the pin. The carbon fiber imparts a stiffness that makes pin setting fully controllable.
I salute you Steve Fujian...great design, great feel, great tool....
Go out and buy one now....it will change your approach to the job and will make a good tech even better...IMHO

Peter:
Welcome to the club. I've had mine for about a year now. It sounds like we have the exact same setup. It's a beautiful thing....

Isn't it great Peter? I love mine too! Been hooked on it for many months now. Best thing I ever did! I liken it to driving a Mercedes. The best thing since chocolate covered cashews!

And we can purchase this item at all the usual supply houses?

Order on-line...paypal etc...arrived in four days
www.fujanproducts.com

Sorry about the advertising...but this is waaaaay good.

Why sell through supply houses and loose the margin....

I love mine too. I think it has made my technique-learning go faster and easier than otherwise.

I can't say anything against the Fujan because I haven't tried one. I can say that I like a heavy tuning hammer for moving tight pins a small amount. I use a Hale speed hammer. It weighs over 2 lbs.

Good point about the margins, thanks for the heads up, and the testimonials from folks who are using this product. Now where can I pick up those chocolat cashews?

UprightTooner...
I know exactly where you are coming from...the weight can give a feeling of security and extra power if needed...BUT it also can have a tiring effect on your arms and upper body...
IF you can get to borrow one for a couple of days you'll see what I mean...these things weight nothing..and I believe you'll get a better 'feel' and even better results...Check out the web site...you can get them ANY length you need to shift those tight suckers...

This is for Dan....
nutsonline.com

YOU DID ASK :-)
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I tried a Fujan and couldn't get along with it. It IS light and that's a good thing but it seemed just too stiff for me. Got my timing all messed up. Just an old dog I guess.

Thanks for the tip, Peter:

I would like to try one sometime. I've been trying to think of enough excuses to go to the East Coast PTG gathering this year. I'm sure there would be a booth or something with one available. Anyone know when and where?

As far as the length of the tuning hammer, I don't see how it would help with the spring in the pin. That's what I like the weight for. It gives a controlled "nudge".

Yes Peter, I completely forgot about the Turtles, turtles yeah, yeah, yeah. I can feel my arteries closing now…………………. , Lots of norepenephrine(sp?) for the brain power.

Yes I need a heavy hammer too, and what about the extension part? On grands this is quite handy. Also on tall uprights with the high pin block sometimes in the treble you need to extend quite a bit, sometimes almost to full extension.

OK, I found it on the PTG web page. Next possibility is in April 09. I have plenty of time to think of excuses.

I talk about it and send the link to a friend.
It happens he have tried one, he state, that they are wonderful for verticals, because of the handle (he state) . But it does not fit well for him for the grands.
He say, the vibration of the strings in the tuning hammer cannot be felt, damped by the carbon, too much an inert thing between the wire and the hand for grand tuning

The Fujan can take more time to get used to if you've been tuning for a long time with something heavy.

When I first started tuning, I had both a conventional (heavy) hammer and the Fujan, with no bias or previous experience. I tried using both, but it didn't take long before I could not even stand to use the heavy one. I think the best thing a new student can do is get a carbon fiber hammer. Expensive, but worth every penny considering how much faster the learning process will go.

Isaac:
I have to say that my experience is just the opposite. I like the Fujan well for grands, but not as well for verticals. I think the reason is that I have a shorter model with a short tip and a steeper angle. It would be nice to have a second one with a longer handle, longer tip, and less angle. I might start to carry a seperate hammer just for verticals.

I don't know whether feeling string vibrations in the handle is something I've even thought about. Is that desirable? This hammer doesn't flex, which is what I like.

You can purchase the longer tuning tip with a slightly different angle if you like to avoid the plate too. Or you can purchase a separate extension to make it longer.

I like it because you can feel every nuance of the tuning pin. Both good and bad. I can't say as if it has increased my speed any though. But, I'm not any slower. other than RCT slowing me down a bit.

I can see the plate getting in the way on some grands if you use less than a 15 degree angle....I always have my lever between 12 and 2 o'clock ...the model B's I tuned today caused me to change my angle on only 3 pins...it'll do for me...

Maybe a longer shaft or an extension would work well on uprights...Sorry that I can't offer any personal experience in this regard, I am lucky that I don't do them any more, and am happy to pass them over to other capable techs in the area.

I echo Jerry's comments about feeling the nuance of the tuning pin with the Fujian....does feel like you're cornering in a Mini and yet, as Jerry said. cruising in a Mercedes...

Do they come in red? :-)

Peter, thanks for commenting.
I also , like a not too long shaft (nor heavy hammers) . My friend and I are using relatively light hammers (Yamaha tuning hammer) and I dont worry much about the flex, (which may be the reason why pressure is to be applied on the hammer) while it may be interesting to try that lightweight and no flex hammer, I am not aware at the necessity for feeling strings vibrating thru the handle, I'll work on a new B in a moment, (lot of flagpolling !) and will try to ascertain if it is something I use without noticing it.

He could try the tuning hammer for a month or so, because he had a trainee who own one. May be he did not get used to it, i understand the feel may be very different from usual.

Thanks for saying that your position is around 12:00 and 14:00 , indeed the better control on grands without plate bushings (see what brand I have in mind !)

Have anice day !

More later.

I'm a jerk, ease back, wiggle and thump tuner with concert level stability (so I'm told) and have embraced the lightness and stiffness of this tool...
I haven't noticed a change in the vibrations I feel through the lever...I'll pay more attention today...
The shorter the lever, the better your technique....if you work on instruments that don't need a ten foot handle and an ability to bench press 900 pounds...
I do acknowledge that the majority of new instruments have tight, delignitesk, pin blocks...difficult to set the pin in many cases...the longer the better in that case...methinks???
Fujian provides for any permutation you can think of regarding angle, handle and length....

Do they come in blue?

Ordinary hammers come in different weights and lengths depending on the size nail. (Ask any DIY) Putting a tack hammer head on a sledge (or sludge) hammer handle won't work well on a 20d nail. Sometimes you need weight.

It was a re-whatevered S&S M that convinced me I needed a heavier hammer. I could move the pins easy enough, but not by a small amount. I don't believe the problem was spring in the hammer. I do believe the problem was the spring in the pin.

I've been very happy with the change, but would still like to try a Fujan sometime.

Do they come in Mossy Bark Camo?

I like Pete's term, "jerk, wiggle, ease back and thump" style. That's a pretty good description of how I achieve stability, while pounding a bit on the note.

I have never seen or tired a Fujan, but when the threads on my Hale began to go last year, I purchased a Jahn extension from PianoTek. Not quiet as pricey as the Fujan, but I gotta say, I love that hammer. It was also a nice easy transition from the Hale to the Jahn.

Yes the Jahnn metal and levers are second to none, the tips are lasting very long, longer than others I've find (even a very little more than Watanabe, which are not that bad) I have a heavy one frome them, for special cases (extension). Their light and long lever for students is good also (with the tips fixed on an extension you change with the tip number) flex, but easy to use, come with 4 sizes, convenient for old pianos because of that.

The way we use the lever is also more or less good for the tips, and something one does not think of, often is to clean the dust from the tuning pins, dust is abrasive... You can see me with a towel slapping the air around the tuning pin, as if I've find a fly I want to kill !

You mean that you can even set the pins and get a stable tuning on a Boston with the Fujan lever??