I don't restring often. When I do, I have to get back into the swing of
the routine. My challenge is to produce becket positions that are
consistent. My standard is based on producing a professional product,
knowing that slight variations in position won't compromise tuning
stability.
I've been cheating for years. At first I used my fingers as a guide. Now
I use a tool that helps me cut an exact length of wire longer than the
tuning pin. Ed Sutton gave me this tool, and he credits its maker to
someone else. It measures almost 3" long x almost 1/4" thick and made of
the harder the wood the better. I've attached photos.
Pull the wire around the hitch pin, bend it the same way every time,
orient your new tuning pin with the hole in the same position every
time, pull the wire with the same force every time, align the jig on top
of the tuning pin at the same place every time when you cut it, make the
becket the exact length every time... I think those are the variables.
As the wire diameter changes and position of the tuning from the front
of the piano changes, you may have to adjust how far forward or beyond
you place your jig in relationship to the top of the tuning pin to
account for changing positions of your becket.
Usually about 1/4 through the restringing process my coil positions
start becoming very consistent. At the tenor/bass break they begin to
get more inconsistent because of how sharp the angle is to the front of
the piano. It becomes harder to control the amount of wire I cut beyond
the tuning pin... there's a lot of curved wire I can't pull straight.
If I did this every day I would get better at it. Meanwhile, I have to
go slow and fix my mistakes along the way. So is the way of restringing
for me and my jig.
JP
Original Message------
Hi Horace
I did run into one of these not too long ago. The tech had ground down the tops of the hammer flange screws so that the action could be inserted into the action cavity without binding on the the protruding pins. That was probably an unpleasant surprise.
------------------------------
David Love RPT
www.davidlovepianos.com
davidlovepianos@comcast.net
415 407 8320
------------------------------