Hey, A great Tech Tip 4 You!!

[Robert Goodale]

I thought I'd pass on a neat little trick I recently learned
when I couldn't locate a decent pair of cutters in the
shop.  When destringing a piano the traditional way of
removing the wire is of course using a large set of cutters;
single, double jointed, or whatever.  The basic problems,
however, are that its slow and leads to a good deal of hand
pain by the time you are finished.  Furthermore there is
always risk of the wire popping back in your face as it
snips, and the hardness of the wire is a sure-fire way to
ruin a good set of cutters in no time.

Okay, try this!  Let down the tension as you normally
would.  Use a becket breaker to free the strings from the
pins.  Then take your Dremel tool and set it up with the
fiber cut-off wheel.  Use two wheels together on the spindle
and it will last a lot longer.  Let her rip and away you go!
start in the tenor section and work your way across, cutting
on the bridge side of the agraffs.  It cuts like butter and
you can have them all done in no time!  Depending on the
piano you may be able to cut the capo section in front,
otherwise flip it around and cut from the back side.  Cut
the bass section just like the tenor.  By the time your
finished the wheels will be pretty well worn down but they
cost pennies and your done in a flash.  Pull the wires out,
yank the remains from the tuning pins with a pair of needle
nose, and your done.  All that remains it to remove the
pins.  How's that for a time saving tip!!  I think I did it
in about 45 minutes, including letting the tension off the
piano.

Rob Goodale, RPT
University of Nevada, Las Vegas