[pianotech] between the strings voicing fork

[Kent Swafford]

On Feb 15, 2012, at 10:03 PM, <johnparham at piano88.com> <johnparham at piano88.com> wrote:

> Kent,
> 
> Nice tool. How did you make it.

The handle is a Hart voicing tool.

> ..did you CA glue the needles inside the
> brass rectangle?

Yes. I filled the end with cork, embedded the needles, and added CA.

> Where did you buy the brass rectangle?

The brass head is regular hardware store item. I had it leftover from an improvised harpsichord repair.

> How did you
> attach the rod to the brass rectangle?

The cork/CA effectively sealed the end of the head. The handle was friction-fitted into sleeve and the rest of the head filled with thin epoxy.

The head really should have been shorter, to allow more space for the tool to move between the top of the hammer and the piano strings.

To use the tool, put the hammer in check and continue to hold down the key, insert the tool between the strings and force the hammer down toward the rest position, still against the backcheck.

I used #12 needles.

Kent