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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Hey Kendall, </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>You seem like a smart guy, are you a PTG member
yet?</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Chris Solliday RPT</FONT></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=kenbean@pacbell.net href="mailto:kenbean@pacbell.net">Kendall Ross
Bean</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=caut@ptg.org
href="mailto:caut@ptg.org">caut@ptg.org</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Tuesday, July 08, 2008 9:49
PM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> [CAUT] Tuning Pin Questions -
The truth about reverse thread;and Steinway parts that "glow in the
dark."</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<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><!--endarticle--></FONT></FONT></SPAN></FONT></DIV></DIV>
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