[pianotech] Faulk tuning hammers

[David Nereson]

    Tuning hammers are called "hammers' because at one time, the 
opposite end of the tuning head (the part that faces up when the 
lever is on a tuning pin) was used for driving in loose pins in 
harpsichords and early fortepianos.  I've used mine for the same 
purpose on occasion in pianos if my pin punch and hammer are out 
in the car.  It would be nice if that part of the head were more 
like a hammer head.  The way they make them now -- just a 1/4" 
diameter smooth, flat face -- doesn't really work that well for 
driving pins.  I suppose one could cut cross-hatched grooves in 
the surface to give it a little more gripping power, like the 
face of a framing hammer.  But then, not many people use it for 
its original purpose.  The tool that has a tuning socket with a 
handle on it is better -- allows you to keep the string from 
unwinding when you drive it in.
    And regarding tradition:  traditions arise out of habits and 
customs.  Somebody didn't just up and "unthinkingly" start to 
call them  hammers just to be weird.  They were used for 
hammering as well as for turning tuning pins.
    There was an article in the Journal about this very subject, 
but nobody seems to remember old Journal articles, even the ones 
that present etymological evidence that the word "wippen" dates 
back to the 1700's, and that it was spelled with no 'h.'  But 
nobody reads or remembers articles and they continue to use 
"whippen' -aaarrgghh!
    --David Nereson, RPT

----- Original Message ----- 
From: <byeway222 at aol.com>
To: <pianotech at ptg.org>
Sent: Thursday, December 17, 2009 3:08 PM
Subject: Re: [pianotech] Faulk tuning hammers
>. . . . . . . .

> . can someone tell me why levers are constantly and
> unthinkingly referred to as 'hammers'.  Does this come from 
> the  time when most
> tuners actually used T hammers?  (I still use one for oblong 
> tuning pins and
> for tapping in the occasional loose pin with a pin  setter). 
> Do any of the
> new lever designers refer to their tools as  'hammers'?   It 
> actually annoys
> me as much as piano owners referring  to their pianos as 
> 'she'.  Bijou rant
> over.!
>
> ric
>