Opinions On Insta-coiler

[Frederick G Scoles]

On Wed, 4 Dec 1996 Arnold.Schmidt@BBS.delta.com wrote:

>   A technician friend in California called last night to tell me about
> his just spending $55 for an Insta-coiler from Schaff.  He has not used
> it yet, so has no opinion yet as to whether it is a worthy tool.  I
> heard from the head of the piano school which I attended that he bought
> a coil-making device years ago (not necessarily an Insta-coiler) in
> which the internal threads quickly stripped out and he wished he had
> spent his money on something else.  Does anyone on the list have an
> opinion about this Instacoiler?  Most of my stringing needs are
> replacing individual strings on pianos, as opposed to complete
> restringing jobs.

Several yrs. ago I bought an Insta-coiler from APSCO for about $35.00.
It worked fine but I had to first learn how to use it properly and to
remove a few burrs from the machined edges that tended to scribe and
break thin-guage wire at the becket. I've used the tool only for two
complete re-stringings, and it shows no signs of poor quality or wear.
Used it because I had sliced part of my thumb off while sharpening a
mower blade, and found that coiling by hand caused the open wound to
re-open and gush blood.  The Insta-coiler prevented all this and it
helped the thumb heal quickly.  Some techs. swear by the Insta-coiler and
some swear at it;  you be the judge.

Fred Scoles,  RPT

PS  I haven't sharpened anymore mower blades.