[pianotech] Tuning levers, was Tight Tuning Pins

[Jeff Deutschle]

Thank you Barbara:

Yes, I do have a personal preference for heavy tools! As an experiment,
I wrapped a pound roll of solder around the handle of a tuning hammer. The
greater control it gave me convinced me to get a speed hammer and I have
been very happy with it.

If I get a chance, maybe in Harrisburg in April, I will try one.

Thanks again.
On Fri, Jan 2, 2009 at 11:20 AM, Barbara Richmond <piano57 at comcast.net>wrote:

>  Jeff,
>
> Be tempted to try one.  I never thought I needed one, either.  Then I
> read some posts on this list by folks I respect and decided to check out
> what they were raving about.  The first thing I noticed was the lightness of
> lifting the tool  from pin to pin.  Yeah, that was cool.  And then I started
> noticing the incredible control I had over the tuning pin....  To be honest,
> I've not really thought much about springiness in tuning pins, but after
> using a stiff hammer, I found out how much springiness there is in tuning
> levers!
>
> Based on my of experience (27 yrs) using whatever hammer technique works
> for each instrument--jerk, smooth push pull, jiggle, etc., I believe the
> only time weight <really> makes a difference in a tuning lever is with an
> impact-style tool (unless you just have a personal perference for heavy
> tools).  Even with jerk tuning--which is my default, since I was trained
> that way-- the light & stiff lever out-performs the old & heavy Hale, hands
> down.   I have more control than I ever imagined possible, with the added
> benefit of less fatigue from moving the tool from pin to pin.  Or maybe the
> fatigue is less because tuning is so much easier.  Whatever...I'm not going
> back.
>
> Best wishes,
>
> Barbara Richmond, RPT
> near Peoria, IL
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Jeff Deutschle" <oaronshoulder at gmail.com>
> To: pianotech at ptg.org
> Sent: Thursday, January 1, 2009 11:33:05 AM GMT -06:00 US/Canada Central
> Subject: Re: [pianotech] Tight Tuning Pins
>
>
> John:
>
> Thanks for the reply and suggestion. I use both styles, depending on the
> piano, also. If the stiffer hammers were available in heavier weights, I'd
> be tempted to try one.
>
> On Thu, Jan 1, 2009 at 12:25 PM, John Formsma < formsma at gmail.com > wrote:
>
>
> On Thu, Jan 1, 2009 at 11:05 AM, Jeff Deutschle < oaronshoulder at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> I have never felt a need for a stiffer hammer. It seems that there is so
> much spring to the pin (otherwise how could the center of the stability
> "dip" be found) that any spring in the hammer would not be significant.
>
> --
> Regards,
> Jeff Deutschle
>
>
>


-- 
Regards,
Jeff Deutschle

Please address replies to the List. Do not E-mail me privately. Thank You.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/pianotech_ptg.org/attachments/20090102/1c98380e/attachment.html>