J Patrick Draine wrote:
> Straying from the thread title, what were the benefits and/or deficits
> of using 1/0 versus 2/0 pins? I recollect Ed Foote mentioned favoring
> 1/0; what was your analysis?
Greetings,
I began using 1/0 pins many years ago after Chris Robinson explained how he switched in order to allow more repinning, if needed later. I like the feel. The difference in stiffness is, I think, nearly academic. Feel free to check the math, because I know there are three kinds of people in this world: those that can add and those that can't. I compare 1/0 to 2/0 pins, below.
Ron writes: << Tuning Yamaha grands with pins smaller
than 1/0 (6.9mm, were they?), compared to a restring with 2/0 pins, it
struck me that the smaller pins were more forgiving of variations in pin
fit in the block, and turned more easily with less pin/block surface
contact and those nice cut thread pins.<<
Ok, my math tells me that the 1/0 pins (.275"), given a 1 inch depth in the block, present a surface area of .8635" vs. the 2/0 pins,
(these were .281") with a surface area of .8823". I cannot tell the difference .02" makes in surface resistance. I would think it is the threads.
>>Now, I'd say if you want a lower range of torque in a new block, getting
uniform results would be easier with 1/0 pins if flagpoling isn't a
problem for you.<<
I tune with a flag pole. In most pianos, I am spending the majority of my tuning time making the last <1 cent adjustments to create the unisons. I do this by flexing the pin slightly down from where I have left the pin by rotating it,(a totally rigid pin wouldn't allow this technique, instead, requiring that the pin be in only one position in the block for a given pitch.) I rotate it with one, long push from approx. 10 cents sharp. I aim to position the pin so that when the top string and speaking lengths are equally tensioned, the pitch is X amount sharp. The flex needs only to allow me to lower it X amount without leaving the top string so tight that instability occurs going sharp. This X amount varies with the piano, and is related to the amount of friction between the pin and the speaking length. None are totally rigid, so I think we all deal with this, all the time, in some degree. I know I can tell a 5/0 in a tight block from the 2/0's around it by the way it flexes, but I can't tell a 1 from a 2. Most of my tunings are done on pianos I tune anywhere from 4 to 50 times a year or more and by now, it seems that when a string leaves the unison behind, it has a 50/50 chance of going sharp or flat. I think this indicates a good balance. (Jerry Lee Lewis once looked at me, dead in the blood-shot eye, and told me that the piano was going to be out of tune half way through the session, so plan on sticking around. 2 hours later, he said he had wasted his money having me stay)
There is sufficient latitude in either pin size to flex my way to purity. On the test rig in the shop,( a one beer affair with a vise, a pin, weighted tuning hammer and a dial indicator). I find that about a 4 lb weight, 25 cm from the head, will deflect the larger pin .080" and the smaller one .077". I think these flagpoles are enough alike for me and my technique to disregard.
The main reasons I am using 1/0 pins is that they will allow the first restringing to simply bring the block up to where others started, their slightly smaller diameter obviates spacing problems when things get crowded, and in blocks with very small webbing holes,( some way old Steinways), they introduce an additional margin of error.
I was once told, somewhere at a convention, that the 2/0 pin became standard because a 1/4" drill bit left a hole that was just right for a real tight block. Plausible, but I don't know any more than that.
Regards,
Ed Foote RPT
http://www.piano-tuners.org/edfoote/well_tempered_piano.html
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