Schaff Tuning Levers

[Jeff Tanner]

Hi all,
I'm wondering if anyone else has ever encountered the problem with 
Schaff Tuning levers that I have.  I recently ordered a #16 nylon 
handle extension lever for my student assistant.  He's buying it for 
his own personal tool, so it ought to be something that will last him a 
while.

The problem I've had is that, besides the sloppy fit of the tip on 
tuning pins I've fussed about before, the threads on the shaft and 
inside the head somehow don't work together they way they should.  When 
you first use it, the head begins working itself loose from the shaft, 
and continues to do so after you continue retightening it.  Soon, the 
threads on the tip of the shaft have become scarred up, and inside the 
head as well.

It is not a cross-threading problem.  It seems to have more to do with 
the tapering of the threads not matching up, so that the tip of the 
shaft tightens down, but the head is not tight.  The threads on the tip 
of the shaft simply grind away into the head.  It gets so bad that you 
can't use it, and it starts happening with the first piano you tune.

This has been a real problem with every Schaff tuning lever I've ever 
used.  I own another Schaff lever (#6) I bought about 10 years ago I've 
never been able to use because of this problem (and the tip problem).  
I complained to them about it then, and they replaced it, but they 
wanted to act like I'd cross threaded the head onto the shaft.  But 
that is not the problem.  We had an apprentice model (#8) at my alma 
mater for the students to use and it did exactly the same thing.

Anybody else seen this? or am I doing something wrong?  It has never 
occurred with the APSCO hammers I bought.  But I can't buy from APSCO 
anymore.  What to do about it?  If I send it back, they'll just replace 
it with another one which will do the same thing.  I went down that 
road with my Schaff lever 10 years ago.  And there's no other domestic 
tuning hammer manufacturer that an apprentice can afford to buy from, 
and the imports cost twice as much.

Oh, this doesn't include the fact that they increased the price of this 
hammer by more than 25% last month (a week before I ordered this one).

But I mainly wanted to find out if I'm the only one having this problem 
before I contact Schaff about it.

Thanks,
Jeff

Jeff Tanner, RPT
School Of Music
University of South Carolina