A new technique for easing tight tuning pins

[Ron Nossaman]

>Not long ago I brought up an idea on this list of how to relieve
>tight and squeaky tuning pins.  The response to my idea was
>mixed.  Being the tinkering type I decided to experiment.  I am
>now happy to report that the idea was a complete success!
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>
>Rob Goodale, RPT

Let's give this a little time before we start printing up the bumper
stickers. It's been well known for a long time that a reluctant screw can
be heated to make it turn more easily in wood to let you remove it with
less chance of twisting it apart. It's reasonable to assume the same thing
would work with a tuning pin, but there's a little more to consider. I
don't see that heating the pin enough for this to work could possibly
damage the string without trashing the block, so as long as it's done just
enough to get the effect, that shouldn't be a problem. I may be wrong here,
but it seems reasonable. I'm thinking about long term and not so long term
effects. It's my understanding that both the screw and tuning pin trick
works because the heat drives moisture out of the surrounding wood, which
then shrinks slightly, making the hole slightly bigger, making the fit
looser. Is that correct? If so, then two things may happen as a result.
First, the wood will swell back up when reabsorbs moisture and the pin will
be as tight as it was before the teat treatment. Result: the improvement is
temporary. When removing a screw, this is desirable, but it wouldn't do
much for curing tight tuning pins. Second, with the right heat levels, the
wood may be permanently heat deformed enough that it won't completely swell
back with re-hydration and the pin fit will be looser than it originally
was, but tighter than immediately after the treatment. In either case, the
re-hydration cycle time will be the minimum time after treatment to
evaluate the results. Let's run a few more tests and give it a little time
before we tool up to do it on a wholesale basis. It will be cool if it
works, but let's see what a little humidity does first. 

Just being cautious,


Ron N