[pianotech] Double loop German stringing

[John Delacour]

At 21:43 +0000 22/5/09, pgmilkie at juno.com wrote:

><http://pianomaker.co.uk/technical/double_eye/>

Yes, that's fine if you want to make the special eye that is the 
subject of my article, but it is a lot quicker to make a 
straightforward double German eye and, since there is absolutely no 
virtue in a double over a single German eye, why not just make a 
single eye.

Whichever you choose, set up a nail or pin in a block that will 
result in a ring that will fit easily over the hitchpin when the 
coils are free.  Allow about 8 inches of waste wire -- in other words 
make the ring(s) about 8" from the end of the wire, so that you have 
plenty of wire to grab hold of as you turn the free end round the pin 
while holding tight to the long end -- you must maintain a good pull 
on the wire throughout.  Wrap the wire round the pin until, when the 
wire is released, the two ends are a right angle.  Then grip the 
ring(s) in a pair of parallel pliers and turn on the finishing coils. 
Two finishing coils are the norm and any more than two are perfectly 
useless.  A single finishing coil is actually sufficient.  When you 
cut the wire to length when fitting the string, you need to allow for 
the take-up as the coil tightens round the hitchpin, so you will cut 
the wire shorter than you would if the string looped round the pin. 
What the exact difference is will depend on how loose a fit on the 
pin the eye is.

JD