Les Smith wrote: > It is not my intention to step on any toes or offend anyone, > however in regards to hitch pins, cast iron has always been the > material of choice by manufacturers, just as long as they've been > using cast iron plates in pianos. > Just to complicate things here, don't neglect wrought iron which was used for instance by Pleyel for partial plates. This material is entirely different from cast iron or steel...unfortunately true wrought iron is no longer manufactured, being substituted is mild steel (`wrought iron garden furniture f.i. is *not* true wrought iron). True wrought iron, made by the puddling process, is esp. noted for its strength and corrosion resistance. All the old iron machinery, locomotives etc. were wrought iron. > ..... And the pins are not inserted vertically and then bent > backwards, the holes into which they are fitted are angled > backwards themselves. Although a cut-off nail might be a > satisfactory replacement for a broken hitch pin in a piece of > junk upright or spinet, IMHO it doesn't have any > place in a fine quality instrument.... > Just for interest (no comment intended on the modern piano)...early piano makers used cut off wire for hitchpins, brass or soft iron wire. Graf (total tension circa 6 tonnes) used soft iron hitchpins, inserted into vertical holes, the heads then bent back. Stephen Birkett (Fortepianos) Authentic Reproductions of 18th and 19th Century Pianos Waterloo, Ontario, Canada tel: 519-885-2228 fax: 519-763-4686
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