Tapered pins versus Planned Obsolescence

[Ron Nossaman]

At 03:58 AM 4/26/99 EDT, you wrote:
>I just finished tapping the tapered tuning pins on a 1916 Vose and Sons big 
>old upright. The pins went from below 20  in/lbs to 50 in/lbs by tapping then 
>in only 1/16", and the piano was easily tuned, and it held just great! ( I 
>did not treat the pins, and there is a lot of pin left to tap) 
>
>In my opinion,  using tapered tuning pins in the modern piano would be so 
>easy to do, and would so greatly improve the instrument's longevity (and 
>possible stability problems when young) that failure to do so must be 
>intentional "Planned Obsolescence."   I look forward to the first 
>manufacturer to offer this feature.  I can surely recommend it.
>
>Any  thoughts?
>
>Bill Simon
>Phoenix
>


Sure seems like it would slow up installation, since the tapered holes would
have to be drilled deeper in the treble to accommodate the thinner wire and
shallower coil stack. CNC drilling in the factory wouldn't be a problem, but
it would be a pain in the rebuilders' shops. Installation would be more
demanding too, I think, since the driven depth would determine the torque.
Driving them into a parallel sided hole would give you the tightest fit
right under the coil, which might actually help with tuning, but it would be
awfully tough to get both uniform coil height, and uniform torque at the
same time. You'd have a hard time getting it past the CA lobby too, but it
would be nice to be able to make the odd torque adjustment that easily then
you run across a loose one wouldn't it?

 Ron