Stringing Faux Pas or Not Taught Anymore?

[gordon stelter]

    To be blunt, diet affects the corrosiveness of
your sweat, greatly. Animal flesh contains
sulfur-heavy  amino acids, which create a  much more
acidic 
( sulfuric acid ) sweat, conducive to corrosion. 
( And osteoporosis, arthritis, etc.. )  Excess salt,
obviously, also contributes.
     As a  vegetarian who washes his hands very
frequently, I have no problem with string corrosion,
but use the cornstarch, anyway. In situations where
gloves are acceptable, I usually use the vinyl type,
as they are easier to get on and off than the latex.
Next up in terms of "toughness": cheap knit cotton 
( the brown type ).
     Peace,
     G
 
--- Michael Magness <IFixPianos at yahoo.com> wrote

> In a post relating to counter bearing drag John
> Delacour raised a very good
> point. He was talking about a piano he had acquired
> from another tech that
> had been stored in a shed for a year and how the
> copper on the strings was
> dull, there was some rust etc. His suspicion was
> that the person who strung
> it hadn't worn gloves.
> I recall being at a tech session in the recent past
> run by the shop manager
> for a reputable rebuilder who went through several
> innovations they had come
> up with for streamlining the process of stringing a
> piano. There were about
> 20 techs present and no one raised the question of
> why they weren't wearing
> gloves! I not wanting to embaress the presenter,
> mentioned it after the
> fact, privately and they had no knowledge of the
> need for it! I actually
> suggested gloves or my favorite, cornstarch, I find
> gloves cumbersome,
> they slow me down, especially when handling wire.
> 
> Finding gloves isn't easy for me I wear an XXlarge
> but I was originally
> taught back in class to keep a box of regular old
> cornstarch handy. Pour
> about a teaspoonful in your hand and put some back
> into the other and rub
> them together carefully then "wash" your hands in
> the cornstarch. It will
> absorb the hand oils, sweat etc. on your hands. Pour
> some into the box of
> tuning pins, a generous amount, so every time you
> reach for a pin you
> re-apply it to your fingers. Every so often, when
> you change wire sizes,
> perhaps, re-apply from the box. Not enough will
> cling to the tuning pins to
> affect anything, your tuning pin tray will look
> messy but it will vacuum out
> or blow out with a compressor. If any sticks a
> little work with a small
> brush will dislodge it, most importantly your piano
> that you labored over
> will not begin to rust prematurely. The downside is
> you will have very, very
> dry hands but I've found that to be an occupational
> hazard, along with
> having a daily stuffy nose.
> 
> -- 
> Michael Magness
> Magness Piano Service
> 608-786-4404
> www.IFixPianos.com
> email mike at ifixpianos.com
> 



       
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