Tuning Hammer Tips

[RndyPotter@aol.com]

Tuning tips vary in size (the inside dimensions) because
1) There is no "standard", and
2) The guys who make them do not tune pianos.
As to 1): While a 2/0 tuning pin is supposed to measure .282", that is the
thread, not the head. The head is sized by smashing it with a machine, which
costs money. It takes electricity, which is expensive, and machine time,
which is also expensive. When the Asians started making tuning pins, one of
the ways they made them less expensive was by making them cheaper - by
spending less time and energy sizing the head, so the heads are larger.
Therefore, since most pianos made in America from the 60's, or so, on, with
"2/0" tuning pins have heads that are larger than that. For this reason I use
a #3 tip in my tuning hammer, and seldom change it.
  Tuning style affects what tip you can and can't use, because if you are
flopping your tuning hammer all over the place (I used to do that) you will
find yourself wanting to have a tip that fits snugly on the pins, and
therefore changing it often. If you notch tune, or smooth pull tune, you take
up the slack in the tip and tune without any difficulty. Occasionally, such
as when I tune an early century European piano, or a few certain American
pianos that use American parts, I change to my #2 tip, but not very often.
  As for 2): The guys who make the tips for the suppliers do not tune pianos,
and they do not know what they are doing. The get an order, and maybe a
drawing, and they make the heads and tips. About two years ago Schaff decided
(after much coaxing, I must say) that they should redesign their tuning
hammer heads and tips. They made some samples and I tried them out (others
may have, too, I don't know), and then they came out with their new head
design (with the round ends, like many of us prefer), and some new tip
dimensions. I like them. They have one (1) guy who makes them all, and while
he is not a tuner, he seems to take care to make them all the same. (I
supposed everybody messes up now and then, but I have not heard any
complaints about them.)
  Personally, and this IS a matter of personal preference for the most part,
I happen to like Charlie Huether's Wonder Wand (mine has the plastic ball,
and I don't happen to like the ones with the wooden ball, but that is
personal preference), and recommend it. Being slim, it gets over most grand
struts easily, and I use the 15-17 degree, extra short head on it. It gets me
close to the pin, and makes it very positive for tuning. (But others prefer
other set-ups. When tuning grands, I turn it back over the plate as I get up
in the extreme treble, and slide around the end of the piano as I tune the
last octave or so. It also prevents having to change heads and tips very
often, which also pleases me. I was taught to use long heads and tips, and
tune with the hammer over the right end of the rim, but after I scratched up
a few of them I decided this was not a good way to tune, and working on
finding an alternative. George Defebaugh convinced me to go to very short,
15-20 degree heads and a tip that would slip clear down onto the pin. I want
it to go down as far as possible without being sloppy, but found, with time,
that I find it much easier to tune with a little slop in the tip than the
alternative. But again, much of this is personal, and as with any technique,
you don't always like it very well the first time you try it out.
  While I liked having a perfect fitting tip, and used to change tips
sometimes two or three times a day (and carried about six heads and four tips
in my kit - heavy), I learned to realize that by changing my tuning style a
little (what George showed me) I could work without changing tips all the
time - and quit carrying them all in my kit, and in and out of client's
homes. I carry a couple, and a wrench, but don't need to use them so often.
  Hope that answers a few questions.

Randy Potter, R.P.T.