<HTML> In a message dated 10/5/03 8:25:23 PM, pianotuna@accesscomm.ca writes: <BLOCKQUOTE CITE STYLE="BORDER-LEFT: #0000ff 2px solid; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; = MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px" TYPE="CITE">Hi Terry, In some older pianos tuning pins were tapered. If you came across a loose<BR= > pin you could give it a light tap--and it would be tight again. For that reason tuning "hammers" had a flat to do this tapping. There you go--one possibly appochrifal explanation of "tuning hammer" </BLOCKQUOTE> Harpsichord hardware sellers on the web offer tapered pins for harpsichords,= but they couldn't say why or when the process started. This is of some inte= rest to me ever since I noticed baltimore/boston area 1900's pianos with tap= ered pins, there seems to be no mention made anywhere of these. Very interes= ted in anything on this ?</HTML>