Stable Floor tunings?

[Kent Swafford]

Charly Tuner wrote:

>After 
>only 3 weeks on the job as a floor tuner, and having tuned 4-5 pianos a day 
>(I guess that's a lot of pin turning for a newbie!), my tuning hand, 
>specifically my fingers and thumb joint is very noticably stiff and painful 
>in the morning and late at night...feels like arthritis..and I'm still a 
>young man! Wonder if this could just be a result of having NEVER done this 
>before, and I may be over-doing it a bit, too much too soon, right out of 
>the gate. Anyway,

Hi Terry,

You already have a good understanding of the problem. In 1982, I jumped 
into an institutional situation and starting tuning large quantities of 
pianos all at once just as you have done. My fingers, wrist, elbows, 
shoulders, and back all hurt back then at one time or another, but these 
days none of those hurt much anymore while I'm tuning.

Aspirin, stretching (yes, you should stretch your fingers), alternating 
heat and cold, good nutrition, and plenty of general exercise and sleep 
are all good.

When you feel pain try to pay attention to "body mechanics." Vary the 
position of your body while tuning as necessary to achieve maximum 
comfort and efficiency of movements.

Check your hammer technique out with an experienced tuner who may be able 
to identify problems. Don't fight your hammer; push and pull on the lever 
only in directions that are exactly perpendicular to the lever. Any push 
or pull in a non-perpendicular direction is wasted effort.

If possible, try to tune a good mixture of grands and verticals. (I know, 
I understand that this can be impossible.)

I strongly recommend the Wonder Wand or similar ball end tuning lever, 
because it maximizes the contact area between your hand and the handle of 
your tuning lever, spreading out the forces exerted on your hand. I also 
always wear a snug baseball batting glove that helps support my tuning 
hand.

Best wishes,

Kent Swafford