In my experience, at least 10 degrees is necessary on most pianos, or the tuning hammer handle hits the plate struts or the overhanging lip of the plate or lid on verticals. If it still runs into plate struts, rather than using a head with a larger angle, I change to one with a longer extension for the tip. I don't see how the 5 degree angle would be practical at all in everyday tuning of all types of pianos, unless you had one with a very long extension. Seems to me that an inordinate amount of force in a direction not usually used in normal tuning would be necessary to actually bend the pin. --David Nereson, RPT ----- Original Message ----- From: "Brian Wilson" <wilsonpiano at hotmail.com> To: <pianotech at ptg.org> Sent: Wednesday, September 08, 2010 11:15 PM Subject: [pianotech] FW: Tuning hammer heads From: wilsonpiano at hotmail.com To: piantech at ptg.org Subject: Tuning hammer heads Date: Thu, 9 Sep 2010 15:13:54 +1000 Hi All I have been thinking about tuning hammer heads since Tom Driscoll's post last week. btw nice work Tom! I looked at the link and found the default head was a 15 degree. There was a testomonial stating the user now prefers the 15 degree over the older way of using the 5 degree. Please enlighten me. Why do these new hammers have a default head of 15 degrees? eg Faulk, Fujan and now Driscoll. Most of these first two come with a 15 and yes I know you can order the 5. I know that it is best to be as close to the tuning pins as possible and the hammer must move in a circle, etc and no bending of the pins etc ! but I am intrigued why . Do you have higher plates ? Convienient ? Just the way you do it? I did try a 15 on a schaff tuning hammer. It seemed so strange, and I felt like I was going to bend the pin I too, have been using 5 and 10 degree heads over the years. My first tool kit was purchased through Kawai and the tuning hammer was a 5 degree Itoshin. I remember seeing these tuning hammers in the Hamamatsu factory. Since wearing that tool out, I bought a Watanabe and that is 10 degrees. That tool took a while to get used to, as 10 degrees to me seems large. Reminds of running up a 10 degree hill... ouch Thoughts please ? btw haven't posted anything for a while... when you have nothing to say, say nothing.. Regards Brian Brian Wilson Brisbane, Australia
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