Is there any benefit to turning in pins, instead of driving?

[Delwin D Fandrich]

----- Original Message -----
From: "gordon stelter" <lclgcnp@yahoo.com>
To: "Pianotech" <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: March 04, 2003 3:28 AM
Subject: Is there any benefit to turning in pins, instead of driving?


> NEW SUBJECT! When stringing, is there any benefit to
> turning pins in, as opposed to pounding them? Is it
> "block-specific", how? Opinions, please!
>     Respectfully,
>     Thump

I don't have a lot of experience with turning tuning pins into blocks. The
first couple I tried ended up some erratic and jumpy, though I've no way of
knowing if that was a result of the turning. I do know the process was
highly revered by American piano builders of the early 20th century. I
vacillated between that and pounding them in with a hammer for a while. I
gave up both techniques the moment I saw a construction worker using an
air-powered impact hammer back in the early 70s. I went running--it was way
too important a discovery to simply walk--down to my local industrial
supplier and bought a Danair (then Aerosmith) hammer and have been using the
same one ever since. (They were just as helpful back then as they are now.)
I have long believed that this is one of the best ways to get pins into a
pinblock. Far easier on the block--any block--than either turning or
hammering by hand. Rivaled only by the overhead press used by most piano
manufacturers that simply rams the pin home.

Del