String breakage

[Michael Jorgensen]

John R Fortiner wrote:
> 
 The puzzle - at least to me - is that
> after bringing the piano all the way up nothing broke - however, when I
> loosened one of the bad pins to remove the wire so I could replace the
> pin with an oversized one, the wire broke. 

I've had this happen before and have two thoughts.  I suspect that when
the tension is released there is no follow in the speaking length as the
string is hung-up on the pressure bar.  Then suddenly it lets go, yanks
the string, and breaks it.  Or if your tuning with the hammer
perpendicular to the string you might flagpole the pin, actually adding
tension to the wire.
-Mike Jorgensen