[CAUT] existing pinblock prep

[Jeff Farris]

On 7/25/08 8:11 PM, "Fred Sturm" <fssturm at unm.edu> wrote:

> On Jul 24, 2008, at 6:28 PM, David Brown wrote:
> 
>> Fred and all-
>> 
>> Thanks for clarifying that for me. This was originally posted and replied to
>> by self admitted low volume restorers who , in my thinking , would not be as
>> quick as one might be after having done several without removing the pins.
>> Your tips for that are a great help.
>> 
>> Regards-
>> 
>> David
> 
> Hi David,
> Until a few years ago, I wouldn't have considered restringing without
> replacing pins. It wouldn't have occurred to me. I assumed it would be far too
> cumbersome. Then I read on this list that several people with considerable
> experience, and with a very good claim to my respect, did it as a matter of
> course. So I began to change my notions. My first stab was restringing capo
> sections, and it went quite well after a bit of adapting techniques. After a
> few of those, I tackled a full piano. Never looked back.
> To put the operations of new pins versus reusing old ones in perspective,
> think of comparing the moves needed to do the work. A piano is ready to
> string. Your tools and supplies are laid out. You pick up a tuning pin, put
> the end of a string in the becket hole, pick up the coil crank, make a coil,
> put down the crank. So far exactly the same for both methods, except that it
> is a new pin in one case, a dummy pin in the other. (Me, while I am cranking I
> just hold the pin between my thumb and index finger. I wear a glove, and I put
> a piece of leather over the thumb and index finger, a cylinder of leather
> created with a stapler).
> At this point, with new pins, you place the end of the pin in the hole, pick
> up a punch, put the punch on the pin; holding it in place, you pick up a
> hammer and hammer the pin home. Put down punch and hammer, move on to the next
> task (which will be identical whether or not pins are replaced).
> If you are retaining the current pins, you put down the crank, pick up a
> sharpened needle nose pliers, insert the tip of one jaw of the pliers between
> the becket bend and the pin, once the wire has been pried a bit away from the
> pin you turn the pliers so that you can grab the becket bend of the wire with
> the jaws of the pliers, you pull it the rest of the way out of the hole
> (prying against the pin) and pull the coil off the pin. Now you place the coil
> over the pin that is already in the block (pliers are still grabbing the
> wire), guide the becket bend into the becket hole, and then use the same
> pliers to "squeeze the coil home."
> If your pins have been turned so all becket holes are in the same direction,
> and if your technique in cutting wire and cranking a coil are consistent, you
> can have the hole right under the end of the wire when you place the coil over
> the pin. Just a matter of slipping down until the end of the wire meets the
> hole. Very fast and slick. It took much longer to write than it would to do
> the job.
> With smaller diameter wire, say 16 and smaller, I think I can string slightly
> faster transferring coils to old pins than pounding new pins home. With larger
> gauges it isn't so clear. When you get down to the lowest bass strings, it
> gets downright tedious and frustrating, both removing the coil and getting it
> transferred. But I haven't been defeated yet <G>. A tip about removing a coil
> in heavy gauge: hold the dummy pin with a vise grip or the equivalent, for
> extra stability and to get your fingers out of the way.
> A few other considerations: replacing pins means picking up a sledge hammer
> ~225 times and swinging it ~1000 times (a good bit of effort), creating a lot
> of noise in the process. Reusing pins probably means more time cleaning up
> coils (they are looser on the pin after transfer than they would tend to be on
> a driven pin). A thought I have had: one could easily get two stringings on
> 2/0, two more on 3/0, two more on 4/0, or several on 2/0 - essentially one can
> extend the life of the block to when the board might need to be replaced.
> I have gone on so long and in some detail because I figured that since the
> issue was raised, I might as well go the whole nine yards and get it in the
> archives, to be mined 100 years from now <G>.
> In any case, to each his own methods. I think there are a lot of us who find
> reuse of the existing pins is the way to go more often than not. Worth a try,
> anyway. 
> 
> Regards,
> Fred Sturm
> University of New Mexico
> fssturm at unm.edu
> 
> 
> 


Jeff Farris
Piano Technician
School of Music
UT Austin
jfarris at mail.utexas.edu
512-471-0158

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