pre-tuning screw (bolt) tightening

[Leonard Childs]

At 03:31 PM 5/8/96 -0600, you wrote:
>>I'm interested in what tools (i.e., torque wrenches, etc) and procedures
>>other tuners are using in the field to tighten down plate screws and bolts
>>prior to tuning.  What about the screws partially under strings?   Thanks in
>>advance.
>>----------------
>>John Peters, RPT
>>Berkeley, CA
>>jpeters@netcom.com
>
>I use giant flathead and phillips tips that have ends cut to fit into a
>tuning hammer.  They do tend to slip out of their grooves a bit, but at
>least I don't have to carry a bunch of screw drivers with me into every
>tuning.  I keep them in my "basic" bag.
>
>Think I got them from Schaff.
>
>Barb Barasa
>Sycamore IL
>
>John, I use the largest screwdriver I can find to fit the appropriate slot
and long enough so that I can put my weight behind it and use vice grips to
turn the screw until I know it is snug, no more.  On nose bolts, I back them
off a little bit then put on my stethoscope (sp), the kind the doctors use
to listen to your heart, and turn the bolt down until I hear it engage to
the wood and stop.  The screws in the v-bar do not have to be cranked down
very much, just enough to establish a termination point, I usted to know the
angle, but off hand I'd have to look it up.

Leonard Childs, RPT
San Antonio, TX