dented piano wire

[John M. Formsma]

Lance,

At the convention, the Steinway technician gave a class on concert prep.  He
had a brass  tool which he used to "iron" the strings.  I believe that he
did this in lieu of seating strings with a hammer shank, but also for
removing falseness in individual strings.

When I got home, I made one from an old brass lid prop.  There is a groove
in one end which is placed on top of the string.  Then, the string is
stroked with an "ironing" motion.  Maybe that will help.  ????

I made the groove with a Dremel tool and cutting disc, and ground the outer
edges into a triangular shape so that they would fit in between treble
strings.

John Formsma

P.S.  The concept looks similar to that of the false beat eliminator in the
Schaff and Apsco catalogs.  I've not seen one out of the catalog, but it
seems like both tools will accomplish a similar purpose--straightening
string kinks.

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-pianotech@ptg.org [mailto:owner-pianotech@ptg.org]On Behalf
Of Lance Lafargue
Sent: Monday, August 09, 1999 9:24 AM
To: pianotech listserv
Subject: dented piano wire


Last week I worked for a piano competition on a Steinway D.  In the lower
treble section of the piano a previous tech had tapped the speaking length
of the treble wire with something near the bridge pins, so that just before
the bridge pins on the speaking lenght the strings were kinked or dented.
Of course I fought false beats all week.

To prep the piano initially I seated strings at all pressure points, pulled
some wire around hitch pins which pulled the dents out of the speaking
length, and in desperation, even took a pair of needle nose pliers and tried
to reverse the kinks or straighten the wire (only minimal improvement).
Does anyone have any other suggestions short of restringing this piano?
Thanks.

Lance Lafargue, RPT
Mandeville, LA
New Orleans Chapter