<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content=text/html;charset=iso-8859-1> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.6000.16674" name=GENERATOR></HEAD> <BODY id=MailContainerBody style="PADDING-RIGHT: 10px; PADDING-LEFT: 10px; PADDING-TOP: 15px" bgColor=#ffffff leftMargin=0 topMargin=0 CanvasTabStop="true" name="Compose message area"> <DIV><FONT face=Arial>Kendall & Diane,</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial>The system I have used and I think someone has mentioned this on the list, is to turn all the pins out one complete turn. I them use a screwdriver which ground down a to narrow the tip to remove the becket from the tuning pin. I then proceed to remove the tuning pins with a drill. Once all the tuning pins are removed, I cut the coils and remove the strings.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial>Just another way to do it.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial>Al Guecia</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt Tahoma"> <DIV><BR></DIV> <DIV style="BACKGROUND: #f5f5f5"> <DIV style="font-color: black"><B>From:</B> <A title="mailto:kenbean@pacbell.net
CTRL + Click to follow link" href="mailto:kenbean@pacbell.net">Kendall Ross Bean</A> </DIV> <DIV><B>Sent:</B> Monday, July 07, 2008 3:41 PM</DIV> <DIV><B>To:</B> <A title="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org
CTRL + Click to follow link" href="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org">pianotech@ptg.org</A> </DIV> <DIV><B>Subject:</B> Becket breaker? - Technique</DIV></DIV></DIV> <DIV><BR></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=531364516-07072008>Diane~</SPAN></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=531364516-07072008></SPAN></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=531364516-07072008>Hi~</SPAN></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=531364516-07072008></SPAN></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=531364516-07072008>I still use a becket breaker, for the reasons that Allen and the others have described.</SPAN></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=531364516-07072008></SPAN></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=531364516-07072008>I hope I didn't misunderstand what you wrote, but bear in mind that even though you may not have completely severed the becket, you may have nicked it enough so that it broke easily when you backed out the pin with the drill. I have found that beckets I have not tried to break with the becket breaker first will often not break with the drill. (-depends on the wire, and how brittle it is.)</SPAN></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=531364516-07072008></SPAN></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=531364516-07072008>The proper technique with the becket breaker is something that eluded me for some time, until I finally realized what the issue was. Until I discovered it, it was very frustrating trying to use the tool. If you are finding it difficult to break beckets on some pianos, the following may help you. (I noticed that in consulting Reblitz's latest book on servicing tuning and rebuilding, he recommends prying the beckets out after loosening the coils, and doesn't even mention the becket breaker, perhaps because for many people it really isn't an easy tool to learn to use.)</SPAN></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=531364516-07072008></SPAN></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=531364516-07072008> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=531364516-07072008>Once you get the technique down, it really only takes 10 to 15 minutes to break all the beckets, and I think it makes things a lot neater and more efficient. </SPAN></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=531364516-07072008></SPAN></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=531364516-07072008>(Plus it's a good workout!)</SPAN></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=531364516-07072008></SPAN></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=531364516-07072008>I also prefer leaving coils on string ends where I can, because I feel it makes them less hazardous in disposal (less apt to poke someone's eye out.)</SPAN></FONT></DIV></SPAN></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=531364516-07072008></SPAN></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=531364516-07072008>I was training my daughter in how to use the becket breaker (she is apprenticing with me) and even when I taught her what to do, it still took her a little while to get the technique down and to understand why sometimes it worked for her and other times it didn't.  Now she can do it pretty fast (although like me, she still fails sometimes to sever an occasional one and has to go back, reposition the tool, and hit it again. Usually I find that (when I have been restringing regularly) I can pretty much tell by sound and feel whether the becket has truly been severed or not.</SPAN></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=531364516-07072008></SPAN></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=531364516-07072008>I have generally had pretty good success with the becket breaker, (once I learned the tricks), and it does keep the plates from getting scratched up and gouged by broken string ends when spinning the pins out. (Even in the agraffe section of grands, where you have to cut the loops off anyway to get them through the agraffes, I still break the beckets). </SPAN></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=531364516-07072008></SPAN></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=531364516-07072008>Here are some tips on how I do it, which may (or may not!) help you.</SPAN></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=531364516-07072008></SPAN></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=531364516-07072008>I don't know what kind of hammer you use, but I have found it has to have some weight and momentum, ideally. </SPAN></FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=531364516-07072008>I use the same 2 1/2 or 3 lb sledge I use for restringing, but you may find a somewhat lighter hammer will work also. </SPAN></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=531364516-07072008></SPAN></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=531364516-07072008>Perhaps more important,  I make sure that when I place the becket breaker it's tilted toward the becket, so that its cutting edge is right on the point where the becket enters the hole in the pin. (See attached photo.)  It's like the two blades of a pair of scissors. The inside edge of the becket breaker is one blade, and the side of the hole in the tuning pin is the other. If the edge of the breaker tool is not right up flush against the tuning pin where the wire enters the hole, it's like trying to cut something with a bad pair of scissors. You want to make sure the inside edge of the breaker is right at the intersection of the wire and the hole. (They don't give you any instructions or tell you this when you buy the tool. As a matter of fact, someone ought to write a book on how to use common restringing (and other) tools.)</SPAN></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=531364516-07072008></SPAN></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=531364516-07072008>The becket breaker you usually get from the piano supply houses was designed "oversize" to accomodate a number of different size pins. The ideal shearing tool would fit the pin much more closely but since what we get is a "universal" tool we have to adapt. So you have to personally make sure it's business edge contacts the right spot, which means you have to tilt it slightly to make sure it cuts the becket right at the point where it enters (some people would say "exits") the hole. What happens when you don't make sure the edge of the breaker is right at this junction is that horrible thing where it pulls part of the becket out of the hole and bends it down instead of making a neat cut, trapping the bent becket between the inside of the tool and the tuning pin. Then the fun begins: trying to get the stuck tool off the pin. If you're not feeling strong that day, this can seemingly take forever. This also tends to happen more often on those pianos where they have put the infamous "coil lock" on the pin, requiring special diligence.</SPAN></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=531364516-07072008></SPAN></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=531364516-07072008>Tilting the breaker toward the becket requires an awareness of where the becket is, so it's also easier to do if the previous stringer had the beckets all lined up in the same position, or, if you kept them in alignment/aligned them when you lowered the tension on the strings before shearing the beckets. (You do lower the string tension first, don't you?)  It sounds to me like some technicians don't bother to lower the string tension before either cutting the strings or breaking the beckets. (Personally I don't think this is a good idea - In my experience the beckets are far easier to break when the coils aren't tight, and are extremely difficult or impossible to break if they are. I unwind the pins a quarter turn each (in the proper sequence) when lowering the string tension. This loosens the coils enough to make the beckets easier to break.)</SPAN></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=531364516-07072008></SPAN></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=531364516-07072008>When using a heavier hammer it's important to make sure you don't cause the same problem you're trying to avoid by hitting the tool so hard it drives the coil all the way down into the plate finish! After I got the rhythm it was fairly easy to just raise the sledge a few inches above the tool and let it drop. (See attached photo). Once you get a feel for the exact amount of effort it takes to break the becket, you will be amazed at how quickly it goes.</SPAN></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=531364516-07072008></SPAN></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=531364516-07072008>-and yes, when I first discovered I could snap the string with the drill I was tempted to dispense with the becket breaker too, until I discovered I was spending far longer patching up the dings and gouges that spinning/snapping string ends left in the plate/soundboard/bridges/me. </SPAN></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=531364516-07072008></SPAN></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=531364516-07072008>One last thought: Even though you are not exerting the same pounding force as when driving new pins, I still think it's a good idea to support the pinblock in a grand when breaking beckets. I feel it also makes it easier to shear the beckets when the pinblock isn't flexing.</SPAN></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=531364516-07072008></SPAN></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=531364516-07072008>Hope this helps.</SPAN></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><SPAN class=531364516-07072008><FONT face=Arial size=2>~Kendall Ross Bean</FONT></SPAN></DIV> <DIV><SPAN class=531364516-07072008><FONT face=Arial size=2>PianoFinders</FONT></SPAN></DIV> <DIV><SPAN class=531364516-07072008></SPAN> </DIV> <DIV><SPAN class=531364516-07072008></SPAN><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=533361603-16112007>e-mail: <A title=mailto:kenbean@pianofinders.com href="mailto:kenbean@pianofinders.com">kenbean@pianofinders.com</A></SPAN></FONT></DIV> <DIV align=left> <DIV> <DIV align=left> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=533361603-16112007></SPAN></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=533361603-16112007></SPAN></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN class=533361603-16112007><EM></EM></SPAN></FONT> </DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV> <DIV> </DIV></BODY></HTML>