Oh no, not another "must have tool"!

Hello Harp Techs, I had forgotten how effective the Pelco 5394NM flat tweezers (R.Sleigh and J. Harl) were for setting the reed gap, especially after setting the zero point. This weekend, I took the Pelco 5394-NM to-the-bench:

Pelco Flat Tweezer #5394-NM https://www.tedpella.com/tweezers-pelco_html/tweezers-flat-tip.htm 

In principle, the flat blades of the tweezer should work well for Harp Techs, but the stock thickness of the blades are a tad too thick.

My Pelco tweezers measured .009” thickness at the tip of the blade. However, .002” thickness would be ideal for our work

With 400g Wet/Dry abrasive paper, I wet sanded the thickness on both sides. Unfortunately, when I reached .002” thickness, the blades of the tweezer were so thin, they lost structural integrity and easily “teared”. 

To correct, I squared off (sanded) the damaged tip edges, then repeated the sanding process. This time my target was .003” thickness at the tip edges of the blades 

In this photo, you can see the Pelco Tweezer was able to reach back to the desired “brake” position. Note: the round headed 0-80 machine screw was used to secure the new replacement reed.

Side flat view

Here, you will see the proper angle I applied to the reed (don't let up on the pinch) to set the ideal gap.

Your Harpsmith, Kinya