Tunning hammers and peg sizes
Mr. Robinson
for the differences between the square and star types. I only found a
few references that suggested there were different sizes of pegs used
in pianos but these references seemed to apply to Grands. However,
the hammer I received ended up being too big for the pegs on my
piano. It is a Bell upright, made in Guelph Ontario in 1918. It has
square pegs. Later, I tried the hammer on my Grandmother's piano, and
again, the pegs are smaller. It was a newer piano (about 1981) but I
don't remember the brand (apartment size upright). Can anyone give me
the inside story of what's going on? What are the sizes of the pegs?
How did I manage to get so lucky and purchase an extra large tuning
hammer? It was an eBay purchase so I'm not out much. But before I
resell this thing, I want to know what it might fit. How can I figure
this out? What am I looking for to purchase the right one?
John Inzer
Piano tuning pins are slightly tapered and so is the
recess in the tuning hammer tip. There's a slight
possibility that you did not fully engage the tool.
That said...the majority of pianos (upright and grand)
leave the factory with 2/0 tuning pins. A #2 star
tuning hammer tip would be the correct size. Very
few pianos were originally strung with 1/0 pins and
for that size...a #1 tip would be better.
FWIW...I used the same #2 star tip for many years
and very rarely found a piano that required a different
size.
The following links offer some info:
http://www.stevespianoservice.com/hale.htm
http://www.stevespianoservice.com/toolpart.htm
More than likely, your piano has 2/0 tuning pins but
if you would like verification you may wish to purchase
a tuning pin gauge. Scroll waaay down to GUAGES
AND SUNDRIES on the following page and look at
tool # SH44.
http://www.stevespianoservice.com/regupart.htm
--
John Inzer
Don A. Gilmore
news:1194233316....@d55g2000hsg.googlegroups.com...
Technically there have been several different sizes over the years. Really
old pianos (>200 years or so) probably don't even have standardized pins at
all. Fortunately, most of the pianos with the odd sizes have been chopped
up for firewood long ago. Tuning hammers used to be available with four or
five different interchangeable heads...some old Nineteenth-Century pianos
even had an oblong, flattened tip on the pins.
As far as I know, all modern pianos of the last several decades or more use
the same #2 pins and it's difficult to even find a lever with any other
sized head than that.
There is no difference between the sizes of a square- and a star-type head.
The star head just has more points in the socket, so there are more possible
angles to work with (there are only four possible positions for the square
hole).
Don
Kansas City
IPS Direct
www.pianotuningtools.net/ttips.html
"Mr. Robinson" <robins...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:1194233316....@d55g2000hsg.googlegroups.com...
Barrie Heaton
<oo...@doobie.xyz> writes
>. Very few pianos were originally strung with 1/0 pins and for that size...a
>#1 tip would be better.
Sorry you are wrong quite a lot of European make started 0/0 pins and
most UK makes started with 1/0 from 1920 up to the c1960
Barrie,
--
Barrie Heaton PGP key on request http://www.a440.co.uk/
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