Driving Tuning Pins

[Delwin D Fandrich]

David ilvedson wrote:

> Driving the pins would be the first thing I'd do concerning loose
> pins.  Try one and see if the torque goes up.

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Well, maybe.  But then, I've never been a big fan of driving tuning pins down
that last mm or two.

Think about it.  The string leaves the pin about 2 mm or 3 mm above the plate
surface.  That certainly limits the distance one can drive the pin.  The pin
is so loose in the block that it will no longer resist the pull of the string
and is unwinding just from the tension of the string.  Now we're going to
pound the pin further into the block to tighten it up?  Just what is it we're
trying to accomplish here?  We can't possibly pound the pin in any more than 1
mm or 2 mm.  Any more than that and we're going to bury the string against the
plate.  So, we have about NAMM or 2 mm of the bottom of the pin going into
fresh wood.  The rest of the hole isn't going to change.  Now, once we've done
all of our pounding we'll certainly have to tune the piano because we've
pretty much knocked it out doing all of our pounding.  This, of course,
immediately starts loosening that tiny little ring of friction interface that
we created by driving the pin in.  Need I mention the fact that this tiny ring
of friction is at the wrong end of the pin.  Not situation designed to give
one really great confidence in the "repair."

Now, I'm not really a fanatic about these new-fangled CA adhesives either.
They really aren't a fix-all magic elixir.  But, this does seem to be a
procedure that is gaining some acceptance by those practicing the procedure.
And it's been done long enough to give at least some evidence that it does
work for some reasonable length of time.  So, assuming that it does have at
least some potential for prolonging the time -- one year?  five? -- before a
complete restringing is required -- including a new pinblock, so we're not
really causing any long-term damage to the piano -- this would seem to be the
repair of first choice.  There seem to be fairly few drawbacks to the
procedure.  At most you will lose some time -- although probably less than pin
pounding will take -- and an ounce or two of fairly expensive liquid.  At best
you will give the piano owners a few more years before major repairs are
undertaken.  And, you will leave the tuning pins at, or at least very close
to, their original height, thereby maintaining pretty much the original string
geometry.

Regards,

Del