Joe, sorry for the confusion. Yes I drive the pins in before stringing. I start the pins in the hole with a small hammer. I orient the pin so that the becket hole is about 1 o'clock. Now I drive the pin in to the desired depth with a punch made using a long 3/8 bolt inserted into a 1-3/8 long shaft coupler. A lock nut on the threads of the bolt sets the depth. A piece of rubber crazy glued to the bottom, a hole punched in it and trimmed prevents marring of the plate or block. I've used the standard 2 LB sledge. Now I plan to use the air nailer by just cutting off the head of the bolt. My nailer has a 3/8 tip, but I found I had to belt sand a few thousands of the dia to get it to fit. With just a few pins I found that the bolt shaft mushroomed so I had to keep grinding that off. I looked for a grade 8 bolt but haven't as yet found one long enough. I'd prefer the depth of the pin to be so that three additional turns at stringing gives almost the final depth. Now for stringing, I insert the wire thru the pin flush with the OD then turn the pin if necessary to wedge the wire against the next door pin so that it doesn't slip. Now I use the Instacoiler by Schortino to put a perfect coil on the pin. I wouldn't be without it. Great tool! I realize there are many different ways to string. Priss Rappaport just used her fingers (says it's faster). She must have 1/8 inch thick calluses by now. So if you absolutely, positively have to follow Del my idea may not be of much help. There are many ways to skin a cat, but I don't want to hear about it. Happy stringing. I like Bechsteins. See you in Reno Regards Carl Meyer ----- Original Message ----- From: Joseph Garrett <joegarrett@earthlink.net> To: <pianotech@ptg.org> Sent: Monday, May 07, 2001 8:11 PM Subject: Re: Air Hammer > Carl, > I'm not quite following what you are doing. I guess I need a picture. It's > almost clicking, but must be the hour or the senility kicking in. :-) > Another thing that hasn't been mentioned by anyone is, are you air nailing > the tuning pin WITH the wire attached or without? As I always use a tuning > pin crank to wind the coil, BEFORE I pound the pin, this is, I think, an > important factor. I know that a lot of techs pound the pin first and then > STRUGGLE to get the wire wound on the t.pin. IMHO this leads to beckets all > over the map, so I do it the other way. (It's the way Del taught me.) Good > to hear from you on this subject, as I'll be stringing a C. Bechstein, soon. > Best Regards, > Joe Garrett > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Carl Meyer" <cmpiano@home.com> > To: <pianotech@ptg.org> > Sent: Monday, May 07, 2001 7:33 PM > Subject: Re: Air Hammer > > > > > > Joe, I ordered the one for 3/8 since in my earlier post I used a 3/8 bolt > > with a shaft coupler and lock nut to set the depth. A piece of rubber > crazy > > glued to the end prevented damage to the block. I used this with a hammer > > and it worked well. > > > > So now I cut the head off the bolt but I had to sand the diameter slightly > > to get it to fit in the 3/8 hole. I found that the bolt started to > > mushroom very quickly. I guess I could routinely grind off the mushroom. > > but I might try a grade 8 bolt that would be harder. > > > > In your case, I'd find a 1/2 inch OD x 3/8 ID piece of steel tubing and > > braze or even locktite it on the end of the 3/8 bolt. Taper grind it so > > that the punch will hit only the bolt end. Now the tubing will act as a > > guide for the driver and the shaft coupler will serve as a guide for the > > tuning pin. The tubing needs to be only an inch or so long. Next time > I'm > > at the hardware store I'll see if I can find a grade 8 bolt long enough. > > I'll let you know haw that works. > > > > I drove a few pins today in a scrap piece of supply house pinblock. > > Awesome! > > > > Regards > > > > Carl Meyer > > > > From: Joseph Garrett <joegarrett@earthlink.net> > > To: <pianotech@ptg.org> > > Sent: Monday, May 07, 2001 4:19 PM > > Subject: Re: Air Hammer > > > > > > > Carl, > > > It came with 3 "tips". 1."finish nail": @.2000" ID 2. "Magnetic tip": > > > @.4500", which is ok diameter, but don't want magnetized tuning pins! 3. > > > "Standard tip: .5000", which is too darned big! > > > Could you tell me the size of the "tip" you use? > > > Regards, > > > Joe Garrett > > > ----- Original Message ----- > > > From: "Carl Meyer" <cmpiano@home.com> > > > To: <pianotech@ptg.org> > > > Sent: Monday, May 07, 2001 2:25 PM > > > Subject: Re: Air Hammer > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Joe! Just what exactly is the ID of the tip you have on your air > > hammer? > > > > > > > > Carl Meyer > > > > > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > > > > From: Joseph Garrett <joegarrett@earthlink.net> > > > > To: <pianotech@ptg.org> > > > > Sent: Sunday, May 06, 2001 11:32 PM > > > > Subject: Re: Air Hammer > > > > > > > > > > > > > Bought one of these at that price. Still trying to figure out how it > > > > works. > > > > > There were no tips that would fit over a tuning pin, so I'll > probably > > > have > > > > > to have a special one made. So much for bargains. :-( I suspect, > after > > > > > checking the Danair website, that I should have bought on of those! > > > > > Regards, > > > > > Joe Garrett > > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > > > > > From: "Carl Meyer" <cmpiano@home.com> > > > > > To: <pianotech@ptg.org> > > > > > Sent: Sunday, May 06, 2001 8:01 PM > > > > > Subject: Re: Air Hammer > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Murphy's law strikes again!!! Whenever you buy something, it > always > > > is > > > > on > > > > > > sale somewhere else cheaper!!!! > > > > > > > > > > > > Oh well. It's only money, > > > > > > > > > > > > Carl Meyer > > > > > > > > > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > > > > > > From: Ron Lindquist <ronli@newnorth.net> > > > > > > To: <pianotech@ptg.org> > > > > > > Sent: Sunday, May 06, 2001 7:25 AM > > > > > > Subject: Air Hammer > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Harbor Freight Tools has a nice one on sale for $49.95--I got > one > > > when > > > > > > they > > > > > > > were $79. > > > > > > > <harborfreight.com> or 800-423-2567. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
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