Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Tuner-Technicians Forum Why not using cheap tuning hammers?

I quite disagree. Its a always a question of scale or production, not actual processes, that create these kind of high custom prices...like say, uhh, piano rebuilding...

But once you get into automated scales of production, you get a watanabe, inconsistent and sloppy. Note, I differentiate the current Wantanbe tips from the older tips which reportedly were really nice, though I've never tried one of these older tips.

Jim Ialeggio

I quite disagree. Its a always a question of scale or production, not actual processes, that create these kind of high custom prices...like say, uhh, piano rebuilding...

But once you get into automated scales of production, you get a watanabe, inconsistent and sloppy. Note, I differentiate the current Wantanbe tips from the older tips which reportedly were really nice, though I've never tried one of these older tips.

Jim Ialeggio

I agree with you in part on this Jim as far as some things go, but not with tuning tips. They are being used on a wide variety of tuning pins, both in sizing, conformity and quality. Plus the pins can already be a bit pre-mangled from previous tunings using poor fitting tips. Do we realize the value of a near perfectly machined tip thats being used on parts that are not...nope. So we are left with the durability equation. Making durable tips with the right amount of hardness/toughness is not rocket science and does not involve a 6:1 ratio in cost.

I do believe in quality tools for the right application. All my machinist measuring tools for eg. are Etalon/Helios/Tesa ect..German or Swiss made and they are pricey. They cost a lot to begin with so I don't want to buy another one in my lifetime. If I go 3-5 years with a 20$ tip....I will be dead before I recover the cost of one that costs 6-7 times as much.

The inconsistency of the pin tops is a very strong point.

But does that mean fit doesn't matter? My bod' prefers the feedback I get for a snug tip, even though, as you say the pins are so inconsistent to begin with, and worn to boot, that consistency is not there...but still I find the connection in the Watanbes really frustrating.

I don't know where the intersection between adequate fit and pin inconsistency is, but it does seem to be there somewhere. As I said, I like the BKB, but its not a WOW difference. Would I do it again...probably not...I'd figure out how to get a Jahn on my Goss or switch to Charles Faulk's lever, which I intend on doing in the near future anyway.

Jim Ialeggio

Very bad new about Watanabe if confirmed, in 12 years I have buy an extra #2 tip , and I still use the old one sometime, it just wobbles a little on some pins.

May be as I buy those from Yamaha the quality differs (I hope so as I have to buy a complete lever for a friend)

There are different ways of looking at it. I feel gouged when I buy a cheap tool that doesn't perform properly and it lands in the junk tool drawer. I have never felt gouged when I bought a good quality, albeit expensive tool when it is a tool that I need for my work.

Consider that there are a lot of really poor tips (junk) out there sold for $20 or more. $100.00 for a quality tool just stopped looking so bad.
Consider that the tuning tip will pay for itself by the time you get through 3/4 of the first job of thousands you will reliably be able to do with it. Or if you want to look at it as a piece of inventory that gets depreciated over time, it will add $0.02 more or less to your cost per tuning over 10 or 20 years. Again, the cost starts to look quite reasonable, to me, anyway. (Raise your tuning price by two cents! )

Why not buy a excellent piece of equipment, made by trained and experienced tool and die makers in small batches from the highest quality material?

I call it investment in myself and my business as a professional. Does everyone need to do have it? Of course not. Thank goodness for options and for competition.

Just take out my first hammer to test it. Its low quality China made. The gap between the tip and pin is loose, tend to bend the pin. The weight distribution toward head. Very uncomfortable to move from pin to pin. If tune one or two pin, its OK. If tune whole pinao, I don't know. I don't want to use it to tune more than one pin! High end hammer may ten time expensive. Its still cheap compare to most electronic toy.

The problmem is that in pianos the low/cheap quality seem to be used as the etalon - if all the tips you find are lesser grade steel, then a good one get pricey because it is made in small batches.

Usually a tuning pin may not marr the tip, as its metal is soft. a good tip will correct a marred tuning pin somehow.

Does someone have a concrete tips on not too expensive tuning hammer?
Where can i buy one?
I lookt at
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw...;_odkw=piano+tuning+hammer&_osacat=0
and
http://www.thomann.de/gb/jahn_klavierstimmset_pro.htm

All piano supply houses offer quality mid priced tuning levers. For example; I find Shaff products to be professional quality at very reasonable prices. If your really going on the cheap, get a gooseneck tuning lever. I know some long experienced tuners who swear by them.

Is this site good?
http://www.pianosupply.com/ips/

This is more reputable:
http://www.pianosupplies.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=tuningequipment

Check out the Basic Tuning kit, which will get you started for about as little money as possible, but will still give you decent tools. Try to stay away from any tuning hammer less than 50 or 60 bucks. Also watch out for imitations that have pretty-looking wood and pretty photos, but the quality of the steel machining on the business end of the lever is poor, leaving you with a useless tool (such as the website you linked to, from what I've read and heard here on the forums).

Good luck on your search!

Loved this post, I even laughed more than once. But gathered some really helpful information.

also www.stevespianoservice.com

Well, fit does matter as far as the tip actually grabbing the pin at some point, instead of kind of stripping out the way the junk tips do. But there is a divergence as far as "tight fit" is concerned. Some folk like a tight, firm fit and others like a loose fit. I'm in the latter category but know quality tuners in both camps.

What is BKB?

My tuning tip just failed today where it threads to the lever. Fortunately CA let me finish the tuning.
I find that tips die after about 3000 tunings . . .

I have never had a tip die, but I just renewed one of the ends of my tuning lever extension with a $5 1/8" pipe die from the hardware store. I took a little off the end with a grinder so the tip would not bottom out, too.

Keith,

BKB is short for B.&K. Baumgärtel:
http://www.pianoteile-baumgaertel.de/

It's one of the (more) reputable German piano parts & tools suppliers.

BKB is possibly selling their own tools but the origin of most of their calalog is Meyne, Jahnn, possibly Pianotek, or Joe Goss, Spurlock.

They take what is interesting to re sell.

Jahnn tips and tuning levers are among the most long lasting (actually around 5 years of dayly tuning iof you nudge a lot, probably life lasting if you are cautious and tune pianos with decent pins.

Basic precautions are :
Take off the dust on the tuning pins , it act as emeri powder on the tip and pin)

Use the good tip, the metal of the pin is often soft enough that a good tip will make new shjarp edges on a lightly buried pin (assuming your technique is not bumbing much)

I have a tuning hammer with its original tip, dating 1930 or even more

The tip have zero play. the hammer is very light and rigid. I use it on most old pianos and the modern ones with thin tuning pins.

Heavy hammer seem to help on new pianos (floor tuning) but the benefit you have with the hammer inertia is somewhat lost by the effort on the scapula muscles just to move the hammer from pin to pin.

I'm tuning daily with ancient tuning hammers that so far have never failed me. One was given to me in 1977 by a customer who had found it in a piano bench of an old used piano. The tip has never worn out. It is a very old Hale with it's rosewood handle. The other I purchased in 1975, also a Hale. However, I'm a huge fan of Jurgen's tool selection intuition. I bought the adjustable voicing tool several years ago and it has saved me countless hours in voicing. The let off tool that fits American Steinways on one end and Hamburg on the other is another that has a permanent spot in my bag. I've bought other tuning hammers over the years but keep coming back to the old ones so I sort of have the feeling that I'm working on borrowed time. I know I need a new one as backup, so if Jurgen likes it, I'll buy it. Who knows, it might supplant my antique hammers.

Thank you Sally for this glowing and unsolicited testimonial. I wish I could say that the check is in the mail, however, that would blow my annual advertising budget.

Word of mouth is priceless anyhow, especially when coming from someone as yourself. (For those who don't know, Sally has held a number of high profile positions including head of Technical Services for Bechstein USA. When she speaks, people listen.)