Dean, I also become a jerk when I encounter tight pins and a Steinway K. My hammer/Lever is 11" Al Guecia ----- Original Message ----- From: "Dean May" <deanmay at pianorebuilders.com> To: "'Pianotech List'" <pianotech at ptg.org> Sent: Saturday, February 23, 2008 8:11 AM Subject: RE: Tuning lever length > Now here Bruce went to a great deal of trouble to start a new thread with a > proper label on tuning lever length and it has been shanghaied into a > discussion on jerks and smoothies. > > Since I wasn't trained as an apprentice but am mostly self taught, I've had > to develop a technique that worked for me. Don't get me wrong, I've gotten > lots of help along the way from some great people. I did attend a tuning > seminar put on by the Lexington PTG chapter in the mid 80's and I have > gotten input from other tuners I respect over the years. > > I find that my technique is very similar to Jon's below and Terry Farrell's > methods. I like to feel the pin move and if I am impacting it with the > hammer I can't feel it, I have to rely on memory muscle that a certain > impact will produce a given change for a given tightness of pin. Now when > faced with overly tight pins I am sometimes forced to move towards slapping > the pin with my hammer or impacting it. Then I'm a jerk. > > Dean > > Dean May cell 812.239.3359 > > PianoRebuilders.com 812.235.5272 > > Terre Haute IN 47802 > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf > Of Jon Page > Sent: Saturday, February 23, 2008 7:30 AM > To: pianotech at ptg.org > Subject: Tuning lever length > > I'm a smooth-pull tuner, applying slight impact only when appropriate. > I feel the torque of the pin and overpull accordingly and make a > diminishing series of + & - motions to set the pin and string with > a final slight + motion to keep the front section of string length > at a minutely higher tension than on the speaking length side > of the counter bearing friction. A lower tension on this forward > string segment would be more apt to allow this lower tension to > creep across the counter bearing making for a less stable tuning, > a final + lilt (nudging pin torque) braces the string better. > > As with moving or lifting a piano, apply force and increase effort > until the desired motion is achieved, don't heave your body into it. > > I carry two stationary levers 9.5" & 11.5" and a Hale 10.5" with > interchangeable heads for strut clearance. Which one I'll use > depends on pin torque and clearance issues. For concert work > I prefer the 9.5". > -- > > Regards, > > Jon Page > > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: https://www.moypiano.com/ptg/pianotech.php/attachments/20080223/fe93ab34/attachment.html
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