Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Tuner-Technicians Forum Is Schaff Tuning Tip Wrench Necessary?

Hi forum,

I just bought the kit called #1982P from her http://www.vandaking.com/piano-tuning-kits-Schaff.html
to tune my Nordiska 120CA upright.

Up until now I have used a cheap gooseneck tuning lever, but wanted something better.

The Schaff tuning lever works when I tighten a pin, but when I try to loosen a pin, the tip just unscrews itself from the head. And why wouldn't it, I'm thinking.

Is there a way to "lock" or tighten the tip so that it won't unscrew itself when loosening a pin?

I see there is a tuning tip wrench from Schaff, #S-11 here http://www.vandaking.com/s-13-schaff-hale-tuning-tips-heads.html
It even says "This tool is necessary for tightening or removing the tuning tips from their heads on your tuning hammer".
Now, is it really _necessary_?
And if so, why isn't it included in the kit I bought?

Is there another why tip tightening the tip?

The expensive tuning lever I bought is useless if I can't loosen pins

P.S.
I am a total beginner when it comes to piano tuning, but eager to learn and cautious. I have read a lot about piano tuning and watched a lot of videos of it and bought this book and read the chapters about tuning http://www.amazon.com/Piano-Servicing-Tuning-Rebuilding-Professional/dp/1879511037

I (try to) play a lot of Bach, especially from the WTC, and stumbled upon the world of piano tuning and historical temperaments reading David Ledbetter's excellent book on the WTC, and I tend to want to learn this stuff myself.

I have also read all the warnings about not tuning your piano yourself, but I am going to try anyway.

you need the tool to change the tip, it should tighten by itself when you tune, if you have no tool.

you could lock it with somr 'glue fo threads' (automotive) light quality so it can be unscrewed later.

may be your tip is not threaded perfectly, also...

I tried to tighten the tip by first loosening the A0 pin a lot with my cheaper gooseneck lever, and then tightening the A0 pin up to pitch with the Schaff tuning lever. This seems to have tightened the tip enough to loosening pins without unscrewing the tip. So I guess I'm good for now

yes but I would have do that on a low medium string, that may have more give, the first bass strings can be fragile

I use the tip wrench and stand on it to tighten the tip, so the tool or some other method is needed to tighten the tip sufficiently.

If you can find a tuning pin, you may put it in a vise and tighten the lever on it as tight as you can get it. The tips need to be TIGHT on the head.

You can also buy a 1 piece head and tip that will not unthread.

Any idea why the tuning tip wrench was not included in my kit?

Probably because you do not need one just for tuning. You use it once, and never again, unless you need to unscrew a tip.

Incidentally, a kit like that may be fine for a beginner, but with experience, you get an idea of the tools that you are comfortable using.

My own tuning kit contains:
A Schaff hammer, with a 7.5° 1-1/2" head and #2 tip.
Extra tips: 7.5° 1-1/2" with #1 tip, a narrow tip, 15° 7/8" with #2, and a 3" one piece head and tip. An oblong to square pin adapter.
Two temperament strips, one thick, one thin.
Three rubber mutes with handles for verticals, two thin and one moderately wide, with ribbons tied to the handles so they will not easily fall into the piano.
Three rubber mutes without handles for grands, two of them on lanyards so if they get knocked out of place, I do not have to retrieve them from the soundboard.
A plectrum made of an old key top.
A prop for vertical piano lids.
3 screwdrivers of various widths and a screw starter.
A bent piece of stiff wire for capstans and letoff buttons.
My tuning fork, an old heavy-weight Deagan.
Music eyeglasses.
Nail clippers, because pounding on keys is hard on my nails.
It all fits into a large Eagle Creek Tube Cube, and it is sufficient to tune any piano I have come across. Some of these items are in separate bags that fit in, to keep them safe or easy to find.

I carry other tools, in other Eagle Creek bags, for other jobs, but this bag is easy to pluck out when all I am doing is tuning or evaluating a piano.