Greetings,
It seems that there must be a lot of force being used in the stringing to break steel tools. I have evolved my stringing over the years to avoid, as much as possible, having to use force. I have it pretty well isolated to the hammers, with a bit of effort when it comes to coiling wire, and on a small, intense, scale, really concentrated force when moving beckets in or out with heavy wire.

If the tang doesn't protrude, the coil can be lifted higher than level on the pin and fixed there with the initial tensioning of the wire. I try to coil and tension so that when I first tighten the string, the coils are left tilted above the hole opposite the becket's entry. After the first two chippings or so, when I know the tension isn't ever again going to drop so flat as to loosen them, I tap the coils level. This will simultaneously tighten the coils, even out the top strings various angles to bearings, (all the pins are evenly driven by now, eh?), level the coils, and allow the tension of the speaking length to move up the string, taking some slack out of the coil, itself. This is a boost to stability, since the coil contains approx. 150 cents worth of slack after the first chipping, and tightening the coil pays off in a lot faster stability. I use small, custom ground, Vise-Grips to give the coils a twist after the second chipping. It is not uncommon for a note to drop 100 cents, even after being at pitch for a day or two. Moving the coils to level, under full tension, helps reduce this.

This way, I never have to force the lifter, instead, just use it to start the coil off high. Takes little force to hold it up while the pin turns it tight. The hammer does the forceful work, and they don't ever break!
Regards

I broke my String Lifting Tool half way through the treble section and then again on the second unison of bass strings.

Now I need a new tool

Whitch one should I BUY?

Dan,

Was the tool that broke a Schaff tool? Which number?

Jim,

I haven't seen any mention of plastisol-coated string lifters in Schaff's catalog. Would you happen to have a part number for the one that you bought?

Greetings,
It seems that there must be a lot of force being used in the stringing to break steel tools. I have evolved my stringing over the years to avoid, as much as possible, having to use force. I have it pretty well isolated to the hammers, with a bit of effort when it comes to coiling wire, and on a small, intense, scale, really concentrated force when moving beckets in or out with heavy wire.

If the tang doesn't protrude, the coil can be lifted higher than level on the pin and fixed there with the initial tensioning of the wire. I try to coil and tension so that when I first tighten the string, the coils are left tilted above the hole opposite the becket's entry. After the first two chippings or so, when I know the tension isn't ever again going to drop so flat as to loosen them, I tap the coils level. This will simultaneously tighten the coils, even out the top strings various angles to bearings, (all the pins are evenly driven by now, eh?), level the coils, and allow the tension of the speaking length to move up the string, taking some slack out of the coil, itself. This is a boost to stability, since the coil contains approx. 150 cents worth of slack after the first chipping, and tightening the coil pays off in a lot faster stability. I use small, custom ground, Vise-Grips to give the coils a twist after the second chipping. It is not uncommon for a note to drop 100 cents, even after being at pitch for a day or two. Moving the coils to level, under full tension, helps reduce this.

This way, I never have to force the lifter, instead, just use it to start the coil off high. Takes little force to hold it up while the pin turns it tight. The hammer does the forceful work, and they don't ever break!
Regards

Hi Ed,

I like and use your method of pulling the coil too high initially and then tapping down to level. I was taught to do it that way a few decades ago by some guy named Fandrich in a little shop in Sacramento.

It is my observation that many of the problems that people have getting the coils lifted in the first place has to do with the extreme back angle that most manufacturers seem intent on drilling their pin blocks. It's really hard to keep those coils from crawling down the pin toward the plate on most pianos where the angle of the pin is approaching 7 degrees or so. We rarely drill at more than 3 degrees except for the occasional upright pin block in the bass where the is no pressure bar.

BTW, if the tang is allowed to stick out beyond the side of the pin, you are prevented from leveling the coils to the most efficient path around the pin. The coil is best when the top of the wire at 180 degrees from the becket, bisects the hole opposite the becket, as this eliminates any ovoid tracking. The best path around the pin is also the shortest. Imagine a screw thread if you will.

the half round seem to be too small for a tuning pin is not it ?

Hey Ed Foote!
I'd love to see a photo of your modified vicegrips. And I remember one of your other postings, you twist the coil in a clockwise or counter clockwise direction?