installing new treble wire on a spinet

[Dave Nereson]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jonathan Stuchell" <jstuchell@usachoice.net>
To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: Thursday, September 09, 2004 7:22 PM
Subject: Fw: installing new treble wire on a spinet



----- Original Message ----- 
From: Jonathan Stuchell
To: pianotech@ptg.org
Sent: Thursday, September 09, 2004 9:16 PM
Subject: installing new treble wire on a spinet


I am a novice and need advice on how to coil treble wire around the tuning
pin. I am attempting to install a new treble wire on two pins.    When I
turn the pin clockwise with the tuning hammer the wire will not wind around
to set the coils.  Any help would be appreciated .  Thank you.

    Back the pin out a turn and a half.  Thread the wire under the pressure
bar, then make a 1/4" or 5/16" bend at the end of the wire.  Or just stick
the wire into the pin and make the bend as you start turning the pin.  With
the thinner gauges, it may not stay in the pin.  But if you pre-wind your
coils with a coil-winding jig [Schaff item #109, p. 46, in conjunction with
a tuning pin loosely driven into a small chunk of hardwood], they usually
stay in a little better.
    I usually poke the bend (becket) into the hole in the pin, squeeze it in
with the needle nose, give the pin a quarter turn, squeeze the becket in
again, give it another quarter or half turn, and squeeze the becket  again.
After routing the wire thru the bridge pins, bringing up to pitch, and
lifting coils so they're all tight together, I'll give the becket a final
squeeze.  If you made the bend too long, it may not squeeze in all the way
unless you tap the coils down to clear the hole so the end of the wire can
poke out a little (but it really should've been cut a bit shorter).
    Coil winders really help, but you have to remember to thread strings
thru agraffes first on grands, and in some uprights you have to thread the
wire under the pressure bar first if the string loop straddles a pressure
bar screw.  Otherwise, you can pre-cut to length, make the hitch-pin bend,
pre-wind your two and a half coils, pluck the becket out of the jig's tuning
pin, then insert the hitch-pin bend under the pressure bar from the top,
grab it with a stringing hook, and pull it through.  I go ahead and put the
coils on the pins without poking the becket into the hole yet, then I pull
the hitch-pin bend down with the stringing hook until I can get it onto the
hitch-pin.  Then clip a hemostat or vise grips or little clamp onto the
hitch- pin to keep it from coming off while you fiddle with the tuning pin
coils (not always necessary).
    Takes longer to write than to demonstrate.   Just takes practice, so
break lots of strings!  (just kidding)
    --David Nereson, RPT