[CAUT] existing pinblock prep

[Fred Sturm]

On Jul 26, 2008, at 8:35 PM, Jon Page wrote:

>> and found that I obviously wouldn't be able
>> to use my normal cranking technique: just hold the pin between
>> (leather covered) thumb and index finger.
>
> I brace the pin on the first knuckle of my index finger as the thumb
> forces the becket bend and coil.

> Regards,
> Jon Page

Hmm, I can do that, but I'm not sure I want to do it 225+ times during  
a whole restring, or even a partial restring. So I decided to make a  
bigger one: cut .5" off the bottom of a pin, and sawed all the way up  
to the becket. It's soft metal, so that's not so hard to do, maybe a  
minute with a sharp hacksaw and vigorous technique (start with a  
triangular file making a score for the blade to follow). I sawed the  
kerf at a slight angle clockwise to the becket hole, so I hit it with  
the edge of the kerf around the middle of the hole. This leaves a  
little "slot" that holds the wire in place a little more positively.  
And then you make a slight turn and it slips down the slot.
	The hacksaw kerf wasn't wide enough for larger sizes of music wire so  
I had to expand it. I used those metal sanding files Pianotek carries,  
starting with the flexible and moving on the the stiff one. That  
expanded the slot enough to allow a wire to slide freely (a bit of  
work). And then ground the corners smooth so it will turn freely  
between finger and thumb. Now that I think of it, I remember a local  
colleague showing something very similar many years back, and me  
thinking "that's a heck of a lot of work just to be able to slip a  
coil, when I can pry it in very little time." But restringing a whole  
piano, that little bit of time saved per coil will add up.
Regards,
Fred Sturm
University of New Mexico
fssturm at unm.edu


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