<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=us-ascii"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2900.3354" name=GENERATOR></HEAD> <BODY> <DIV><SPAN class=228502301-09072008><FONT face=Arial size=2>Ron~</FONT></SPAN></DIV> <DIV><SPAN class=228502301-09072008><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV> <DIV><SPAN class=228502301-09072008><FONT face=Arial size=2>Thank you. Very excellent description of what is most likely going on down inside that tuning pin hole, where prying eyes cannot venture.</FONT></SPAN></DIV> <DIV><SPAN class=228502301-09072008><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV> <DIV><SPAN class=228502301-09072008><FONT face=Arial size=2>I wondered what all that stuff was on the tuning pins when I removed them from the block. -Obviously, decaying sawdust. So, it apparently provides both excellent lubricant, and frictional, properties, and also acts as buffering agent, and doesn't cost the piano companies a cent. Brilliant, if I do say so. Whoever thought that idea up must have gotten a bonus.</FONT></SPAN></DIV> <DIV><SPAN class=228502301-09072008><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV> <DIV><SPAN class=228502301-09072008><FONT face=Arial size=2>Thank you for a most enlightening, and I must say, entertaining post.</FONT></SPAN></DIV> <DIV><SPAN class=228502301-09072008><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV> <DIV><SPAN class=228502301-09072008><FONT face=Arial size=2>I have truly enjoyed reading your other witty and insightful postings on both listserves over the years.</FONT></SPAN></DIV> <DIV><SPAN class=228502301-09072008><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV> <DIV><SPAN class=228502301-09072008><FONT face=Arial size=2>-Especially the one about about whether or not to use Genuine Steinway center pins, the idol worshipper's club, Steinway parts that "glow in the dark", and the great unwashed masses. That was a masterpiece. -Really. -I'm not kidding.</FONT></SPAN></DIV> <DIV><SPAN class=228502301-09072008><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV> <DIV><SPAN class=228502301-09072008><FONT face=Arial size=2>I have been trying to find it again. Do you remember where it is? Can I get reprints for all my customers?</FONT></SPAN></DIV> <DIV><SPAN class=228502301-09072008><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV> <DIV><SPAN class=228502301-09072008><FONT face=Arial size=2>Not all of us are that brave yet as to risk the disapprobation (wrath) of you-know-who, or the torchlight processions with dogs. We need heroes and examples like you who can call a spade leg a spade leg, especially when it's our own leg that's getting pulled. ;-)</FONT></SPAN></DIV> <DIV><SPAN class=228502301-09072008><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV> <DIV><SPAN class=228502301-09072008><FONT face=Arial size=2>~Kendall Ross Bean</FONT></SPAN></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV align=left> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=533361603-16112007>PianoFinders</SPAN></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=533361603-16112007><A title=http://www.pianofinders.com href="http://www.pianofinders.com/">www.pianofinders.com</A></SPAN></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=533361603-16112007>e-mail: <A title=mailto:kenbean@pianofinders.com href="mailto:kenbean@pianofinders.com">kenbean@pianofinders.com</A></SPAN></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=533361603-16112007></SPAN></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN class=533361603-16112007><EM>Connecting Pianos and People</EM></SPAN></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN class=533361603-16112007><EM></EM></SPAN></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN class=533361603-16112007><FONT color=#000000 size=3>></FONT><FONT color=#000000><FONT size=3><I> Yes I often wondered if the reverse threads weren't just a side-effect <BR></I>></FONT></FONT><FONT color=#000000><FONT size=3><I> of the way they cut the threads, that some salesman who happened to have <BR></I>></FONT></FONT><FONT color=#000000><FONT size=3><I> a silk handkerchief discovered by accident. Apparently the ratcheting <BR></I>></FONT></FONT><FONT color=#000000><FONT size=3><I> effect is quite apparent in silk; more dubious is the effect in <BR></I>></FONT></FONT><FONT color=#000000><FONT size=3><I> laminated maple or beech.<BR></I><BR>The reverse thread effect is a non-event in a pinblock. It's <BR>only good as a sales demo, either demonstrating conclusively <BR>that their product's pins will hold, or their competitor's <BR>pins will tear up the block.<BR><BR>Here's the deal. This effect is an artifact of cutting pin <BR>threads. Cutting threads typically produces more uniformly <BR>sized, parallel, and round pins, which can generally be <BR>considered to be a good thing, but what about the teeth?<BR><BR>The first time you turn a cut thread pin in a block, the <BR>"teeth" that aren't knocked off by the process fill with wood <BR>scraped from the side of the hole. Having no where to go, this <BR>wood dust stays in the teeth, preventing further cutting by <BR>said teethoids.<BR><BR>Now, If the static friction between the pin and the block is <BR>much higher than the sliding friction between the pin and the <BR>block, the pin will snap and pop as you turn it, loading in <BR>torque, until it breaks free and catches up in a hurry. Think <BR>Baldwin, Kimball, and the Audubon bird call, as well as <BR>various turkey calls. </FONT></FONT><A href="http://audubonbirdcall.com/"><FONT size=3>http://audubonbirdcall.com/</FONT></A><FONT size=3><FONT color=#000000> The wood <BR>trapped in the teeth of the cut thread pins both lowers the <BR>static friction some, and raises the sliding friction a bunch <BR>(skid control), so when you turn the pin enough that the <BR>bottom starts to move in the block, the static friction is <BR>close enough to the sliding friction that there is no catch up <BR>"snap", and the pin turns smoothly and controllably.<BR><BR>That's it. The rest is cosmetics and sales games.<BR>Ron N<BR></FONT></FONT></SPAN></FONT></DIV></DIV> <DIV> </DIV></BODY></HTML>