Tuning Hammer Technique and Staibilty Question

[Andrew and Rebeca Anderson]

Robert,
Depends on the beasty in front of you.  Boston uprights you will pull 
many cycles above just to budge the foot.  Some pianos you will pull 
up to pitch and leave.  You will find quite a variety of conditions 
to deal with.  There is a book available from one of the supply 
houses that you will find helpful, "Different Strokes" as I recall.

Andrew Anderson

At 10:25 PM 3/29/2006, you wrote:
>I would like to ask a question about how the tuning hammer should be 
>used to achieve a stable and accurate tuning. I understand that one 
>has to turn the tuning pin with the hammer so that the string is 
>slightly above pitch, and then ease it back down into position, 
>presumably to eliminate any self-twisting of the pin that could 
>occur afterwards, causing the string to go out of tune. I guess this 
>is because the tuning pin is flexible and the twisting at the bottom 
>of the pin where it is seated in the pin block lags the twisting at 
>the top of the pin over which the tuning hammer is placed.
>
>My question is, how much should one tune the string above pitch 
>before easing the pin back down? Should it be a few cents, cycles or 
>what? I find it interesting that the tuning pin is that flexible 
>because it seems to be made of rigid steel. I would expect the 
>twisting effect of something that rigid to be minute, but enough to 
>cause a string to go out of tune if the incorrect hammer technique 
>is used. I have found that on my own piano, I can turn the tuning 
>hammer a noticeable amount without a change in pitch, until I reach 
>a point where it does start to change.
>
>Thank you for your advice.
>
>Robert Finley

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