This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment ----- Original Message -----=20 From: Kelly & Bill=20 To: Pianotech=20 Sent: Wednesday, February 27, 2002 4:57 PM Subject: Replacing Spinet Strings List, =20 What is the easiest way to replace a broken string in a spinet action = provided it cannot be spliced? I just did this on a 1970 Hobart M. = Cable Spinet on C8 - probably the easiest one in the piano and it was a = great struggle. I do not look forward to dealing with the overstrung = section of a spinet. I did it with the action still in the piano. Is = there an easier way or some invented tool to simplify the procedure? =20 Thanks, William R. Monroe Salt Lake City Yeah, it's not easy. I remove the action bolt nuts so I can at = least pull the action back as far as it will go (remove soft pedal rod). = The paper clip idea works. I've often wished I had a "forked = screwdriver", like a long skinny dandelion digger, but haven't bothered = to make one yet (another tool to carry, although I could leave it in = the car). This would help for pushing the hitch pin loop down, but so = far I've gotten by with the stringing hook and a long thin (9 in.) = spring hook. I measure first, then make the hitch pin bend, then = pre-wind the coils with a coil winder (tuning pin in a little block of = hardwood and a tuning pin crank, Schaff item #109). Then I poke the = "pre-formed" string down behind the pressure bar (sometimes have to curl = the hitch-pin bend end) and fish it through with the stringing hook. = Here's where you would fasten the hitch pin end to a neighboring string = with a paper clip. Then use a forked screwdriver or hook or stick to = push it down, or reach up from underneath the action with a hook to = pull it down, until you can get the bend over the hitch pin and fasten = it with vise-grips or a hemostat or other clamp. Then put the coils = over the tuning pins and finish up. =20 If you prefer to get the string over the hitch pin first, then the = curtain rod tool can be used (it has to be flattened a little first) or = the two-1/8"-tubes-epoxied-to-a-slat tool. But then you can't have the = coils pre-wound. Well, maybe with the curtain rod you can. To poke the = string up behind the pressure bar from the bottom, I still use one of = the first tools I made -- it's a depleted ball point pen refill (brass = tube) that's bent into a question mark shape. This can be inserted = behind the pressure bar from the top, then the string poked into the = tube, then push the string up while withdrawing the pen refill tube. The whole ordeal can be hard on the back. Pause often to bend = back the other way; sit on the floor if necessary; bend knees rather = than stooping, etc. =20 If there were many broken strings, or they were in the overstrung = area, or the strings needed seating on the bridges anyhow, I would = definitely take the action out. Ssome spinets are easier than others as = far as popping out all the lifter wires and putting them back in. I = hope you do have the sectional rod that screws together to make one long = rod. And I'll admit there are a few spinets where you have to take the = keys out to get the action out because bridle wires and backchecks hang = up too much on the forks on the ends of the keys. Hope it doesn't happen often. = Sincerely, David Nereson, RPT, Denver ---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: https://www.moypiano.com/ptg/pianotech.php/attachments/13/54/27/f9/attachment.htm ---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment--
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