[Harp-L] Shofu Brownies

[Tom Halchak]

My apologies for the delay in my response to some of the questions the post
about Shofu Brownies created.  One of my sons graduated from high school
last week and we had family visiting from out of town and the requisite
graduation party to plan and execute.   Glad it is over and life is
returning to normal.

The link to the eBay listing that I posted was corrupted by my clumsiness,
but someone already posted the corrected link.  FWIW, if you are looking
for the polishing bit, Shofu makes a lot of varieties so be sure to search
for Shofu Brownie Polishers HP PC2.  That’s the size you want.

How long do they last?  They last a good while.  If you are working on
brass reeds, you can probably tune up to 100 harps with a single Brownie
Point, unless you are doing a lot of tuning an entire harp up or down a
half step, like turning a Bb into an A harp.  If it is just the normal
tuning, they will last a long time.  If the point becomes misshaped, you
can reshape by spinning it against a piece of sandpaper.   If you want to
tune stainless steel reeds, you can still use a Shofu Brownie, but it is
not the best choice.  To a large degree, it is a function of the RPM of
your rotary tool.  The manicurist’s rotary tool that I use has 8 speeds.  I
set it at 4 to tune brass reeds.  I set it at 5, which is faster, to tune
phosphor bronze Suzuki reeds.  If I used a Browning to tune a stainless
steel reed, I would set it at 8, which turns at about 25,000 RPM.  That
said, I use a polyurethane polishing pin from Dedeco to work on Stainless
Steel reeds.  It is more abrasive and does the job quicker.

Lastly – about the cost.  $26.95 per dozen is a pretty cheap.  I understand
that a dozen may be a lifetime supply for you if you don’t work on a lot of
harps.  Nobody is set up to sell them one at a time.  There is no profit in
small transactions like that.  If you sent one harp to a reputable repair
tech or customizer, it would cost about $25, so for the cost of one repair
job, you have enough Shofu Brownies to last forever.  Either that, or you
can stick with sanding wands.

Tom

-- 
*Tom Halchak*
*Blue Moon Harmonicas LLC*
*P.O. Box 14401 Clearwater, FL 33766*

*www.BlueMoonHarmonicas.com <http://www.BlueMoonHarmonicas.com>**(727)
366-2608*