Paul writes:
<< We never use anything but a brass drift (6" x 1/4" or 3/16") to tap the
becket home. Steel tools on piano wire just don't seem like a good idea if it
can
be avoided. >>
Greetings,
There is about 200 cents worth of flattening that can be massaged out of a
coil on a newly strung wire. Theoretically, the becket will never see the
same tension as the speaking lenghth, but there is a way to take a lot of slack
out, at the start.
I do this by putting full tension on the wire while the coil is still
slightly above level, ( one reason that protruding becket ends are unwelcome).
Then I tap it level so that it can tighten as it is moving down the pin. Level
means the hole opposite the becket is half covered by the top coil,(another
reason for not protruding). Follow that with a squeeze on the becket and twist
the coil firmly in the direction of its rotation, (counterclockwise on a
grand)(another reason for not protruding). Much faster settling.
I haven't had any negative experience with using steel tools on piano
wire. I have smoothed all sharp edges off my tools, so there are no nicks, but I
squeeze beckets in and VERY tightly compress the coil with vise-grips. I tap
the coil level with a steel tool, etc. Never experienced any drawbacks to
it, never had a wire break at the coil on my strings or replacement strings,
etc.
Regards,
Ed Foote RPT
http://www.uk-piano.org/edfoote/index.html
www.uk-piano.org/edfoote/well_tempered_piano.html
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