Thanks Mark, I ordered a few Lo Torque sets from Pianotek and they only had 3 sizes listed; 3 1/2, 4, and 4 1/2 and only had 2 of the three available. I can't remember which size wasn't in stock, but they said they had plenty of the other two. A raid of Alan's shop is always in order. Cheers, Jim -----Original Message----- From: caut-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:caut-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of Mark Cramer Sent: Thursday, August 16, 2007 2:40 PM To: College and University Technicians Subject: [CAUT] reverse grip tuning pins Jim, I've pasted Ron N's reply/definition below. My belief is that they offer a bit more resistance in the loosening direction, however, as Ron suggests that may be due solely to the fact the threads are "cut" not "pressed." BTW, I notice Alan mentioned "low torque" pins, are they still available, or should we plan an evening raid on his shop supplies? Mark C. PS I suggested earlier that Kawai had been using these forever, but now recall re-stringing/pinning several with nickel plated threads. I would imagine these weren't "cut" threads. Mark, 100% agreement on not reaming. What are reverse grip pins? Thanks, Jim Busby BYU They're cut thread pins, like Denro. Salesmen who were trying to make the other guy's pianos (using these pins) look bad would wrap a pin in a silk scarf and show how it would turn easily one direction and not in the reverse. The pitch was that these evil pins had *teeth* that would tear up the block in the competitor's product. The guys who's pianos had these pins used the same demo, illustrating how these pins resisted turning backward, and would therefor hold a tuning longer without "slipping". Neither happened in actual pianos, of course, and the *teeth* were just an incidental artifact of the thread cutting. They weren't planned at all, but just came with the process. Is it even possible to buy pressed or rolled thread pins any more? The last I saw were from APSCO, I think, long ago. Guaranteed to snap and jump in pretty much any block, mic'd out of round, tapered, reverse tapered, and an interesting variety of diameters in every box. Wonderful things. I think maybe Kimball used pressed thread pins too. In any case, it's cut threads for me. Ron N
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