Is everyone using the visegrip for the loops? I took a refresher course at the CA PTG Convention and had some luck with it...
David Ilvedson, RPT
Pacifica, CA 94044
Original message
From: "Fred Sturm"
To: "College and University Technicians"
Received: 2/28/2007 10:18:54 AM
Subject: Re: [CAUT] CAUT String Repair Class....was unusual repair
Hi Eric,
Okay, but I'm still wondering about the detail. Is it basically the Spurlock method, where you make the loop in the short piece, bend and slide onto the long, then make a reverse loop (one loop clockwise, the other counter-clockwise, you pick) on the end of the long wire, bend, work the becket through the loop, the rest is standard? The only difference being that you have the becket bend you are trying to protect, as opposed to a "straight" piece of wire in the "standard" method. Or is there a way of making a loop around the short piece, below the becket. I can't imagine one, but I'd love to here about a way if someone has come up with it.
I'm in a "low impact" school (less aggressive piano students and faculty), where breaks at the capo or agraffe are the exception, so the opportunity doesn't arise much. I'm more likely to have it break at the pin, and often just back off enough from the other pin to make a new, small coil. In doing that, I usually pull the end of the wire through the empty pin, make a small bend a la Wurlitzer stringing style, then make the coil "in place" (a sharp pull on the pin with the hammer, giving a sudden 90 degree or so turn to create the becket bend, then normal procedures). I find that one coil around the pin with that little retaining bend on the other side of the becket hole will hold fine. And there are still nearly two coils around the other pin. I've been doing this for years without undue problems.
Regards,
Fred Sturm
University of New Mexico
fssturm at unm.edu
On Feb 28, 2007, at 8:54 AM, Wolfley, Eric ((wolfleel)) wrote:
Fred,
I’ve always used the short piece of existing wire I guess because I’m too lazy to go get wire
also, I think part of the beauty of splicing (besides all of the other advantages) is the immediacy of it. You break a wire and then take care of it right then and there. It almost always takes less than 10 minutes and I’ve done it in as little as 5 when everything is going right. This includes straightening all the bends, leveling the strings and pounding the note until the pitch has pretty well stabilized. I’ve had strings break at so many inopportune times that I just keep the couple of extra tools with me at all times. I had to splice F2 (#21 wire) on a Steinway D recently the day before a Concerto. I did have to make a trip to get wire for that splice because it broke at the tuning pin but even this difficult splice took 15 minutes once I had the wire. It was 100% stable by the next day.
We have the perfect set-up to practice splicing (practice rooms) and I strongly urge everyone to take advantage and hone that skill for the time where it could save a performance.
BTW, of the possibly hundreds of splices here, I find it extremely rare for a spliced string to break again or fail in any way.
Eric
Eric Wolfley, RPT
Head Piano Technician
Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music
University of Cincinnati
From: caut-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:caut-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of Fred Sturm
Sent: Wednesday, February 28, 2007 10:09 AM
To: ed440 at mindspring.com; College and University Technicians
Subject: Re: [CAUT] CAUT String Repair Class....was unusual repair
Hi Ed,
I wonder if I could ask for a wee bit of clarification. I am with you except for step 5. In step 5, do you make your loop in the long wire, then insinuate the becket through it, following with the rest of the short wire? Or do you have some technique for creating the loop in the long wire "around" the short wire? (BTW, I would add to your instructions for 1 and 2 "while applying tension to the strings - pulling on them to start unwinding the coil" or something a bit better worded).
I have never considered using the short piece of existing wire, myself, thinking it too much trouble, and that the difference in "stretchability" wouldn't be that big compared to a new piece of wire. Of course, you waste some time going to get that piece of wire, but I don't carry around my splicing tools on my tuning rounds at the U, so it isn't an extra trip for me. But it's a trick that might come in handy some day.
FWIW, a normal splice takes me a bit less time than a full string replacement. Once I read Bill Spurlock's article, maybe 15 years ago, I became an immediate expert <G>.
Regards,
Fred Sturm
University of New Mexico
fssturm at unm.edu
On Feb 23, 2007, at 7:58 PM, ed440 at mindspring.com wrote:
Sid-
This is for strings that break at the capo bar:
1) Back off the pin with the long string two turns.
2) Back off the pin with the short piece 1 and 1/2 turns.
3) Remove the short piece of wire and straighten it. Don't straighten the becket bend. Grab it in vice grips and make a loop, as close to the wire diameter as you can. Bend the loop up almost 90 degrees to the wire. (You are reversing the short piece. What used to be the becket is now the splice.)
4) Go to the back of the piano. Grab the long wire in the vice grips and pull it straight back, hard. Straighten out the hitch pin bend.
5) Slip the short loop on the long wire and make the second loop on the long wire, very close to the end.
6) Grab the end of the short piece in the vice grips and pull the loop tight (still toward the back of the piano.)
7) Cut the excess side points of the splice close to the loops.
8) Pull the wire straight to the hitch pin and bend it around.
9) Feed the wire under the capo bar, make a coil on a dummy pin and snap it onto the tuning pin.
10) Begin to add tension on the splice side of the string, watching to make sure the splice clears the v-bar and comes out on the front side. (Both loops of the splice must be clear, not just one.)
11) Snap the string between the appropriate bridge pins and space at the front bearings. (Loosen tension a little if needed to get the wire between the bridge pins.)
12) Pull to pitch, settle the string (pinch becket, pull up coils, tap at the hitch pin) and pull to pitch again. (If the concert starts in 5 minutes, pull a little bit over pitch on the "good" side, and a little bit more over pitch on the spliced side. Or if you prefer, wedge off the repair and come back in a day.)
Once you suspend your disbelief this repair is.....a cinch.
Ed
-----Original Message-----
From: Sid Blum <piano at sover.net>
Sent: Feb 23, 2007 5:46 PM
To: ed440 at mindspring.com, College and University Technicians <caut at ptg.org>
Subject: Re: [CAUT] CAUT String Repair Class....was unusual repair
Ed-
This is the first I've heard about splicing treble wire. Please explain.
Thanks,
Sid
This thread leads me to think there needs to be a class in advanced
string repair for CAUTs (and others).
My experience has been that splicing almost always produces the best
repair. It stabilizes quickly and has the right timbre to match the
other strings. This includes bass strings spliced in the speaking
length and treble strings spliced in the front duplex. It is also
the fastest repair.
These repairs aren't hard to learn, given a bit of commitment to practice.
The Technical Exam Source Book has an extensive article on splicing.
It's a good place to start.
Correct repairs of loose tuning pins and correct string winding and
seating procedures also need to be addressed. I am doing some
contract repairs at a college where many treble strings have been
incorrectly replaced. It is a tuning stability nightmare, and I am
beginning to think it is a waste of time to try to stabilize a
string that was improperly installed to begin with.
Ed Sutton
--
Sid Blum
sid at sover.net
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: https://www.moypiano.com/ptg/caut.php/attachments/20070228/8674fed7/attachment-0001.html
This PTG archive page provided courtesy of Moy Piano Service, LLC