stringing, tuning pins, etc

[Ron Nossaman]

Hi all,

Since there is/was a recent/current thread on stringing, I thought this
would be appropriate.

Sometimes, we need a little refresher on the basics. Mine just came in the
form of failing to remember just how much wire you need to crank around a
tuning pin to pull the low tenor in a big grand up to pitch. I hadn't strung
a 9' piano for a long time, but that's no excuse. I should have known
better. The upshot was, I ended up with close to a dozen coils too close to
the plate. I couldn't swing a hammer, even my four pounderpounder hard
enough in the space underneath to drive them back up so I needed something
else. I made a 'punch' for a small machinist screw jack that would fit into
TP holes in the bottom of the block, spaced the jack up underneath with
scrap, and cranked the punch up onto the bottom of the first pin. I couldn't
move it with constant pressure, but whacking the bottom of the keybed (with
jack pressure under the pin) moved it up. Trouble is, I didn't want to beat
the bejeebers out of the underside of the keybed to fix my first stupid
mistake with a second one, so I tried another approach. First, I jacked the
punch up under the pin, and cranked it up enough to supply a little
pressure. Then I turned the pin backward about twenty degrees, and then back
where it was. With the pin moving in the block, the jack pressure, and
keybed spring, pushed it right up to where I wanted it. Very slick, very
easy, no hammer tracks. Incidentally, it's AMAZING how much crap leaps up
out of the gap joints of a keybed when you whack the underside. This was
after the air hose and vacuum.


One more thing, just for the record. I have decided to cease the practice of
reaming plates and inserting plate bushings. I still think they are a good
idea, and I still think they add to the general tunability of the instrument
and I still see nothing wrong with the practice... but. Since I can get
maybe eighty five percent of the same benefit just reaming the plate big
enough to get adequate clearance of the pin, and getting the pin centered in
the plate hole, and the looks of the resulting job doesn't leave me open to
the prejudice and politics regarding resale value and general desecration of
an icon, it's obviously the way to go. I thank all of you who had anything
to say on the issue in threads gone by. It certainly helped in making the
decision. I made a small 'center drill' holder that drills a shallow pilot
hole in the exact center of the plate hole using a hand held drill motor. I
then drill the block in my usual manner, in the piano. It produces a far
better job (center-wize) than I have ever seen on ANY production instrument
without plate bushings. That's certainly good enough for me. Thanks again.


  
 Ron Nossaman