Pounding Loose Tuning Pins | HOWARD PIANO INDUSTRIES

[@JWalterHawkes]

Once the hammering starts and the Chopin is in the background, it makes for a fairly horrific and fabulous sound/score to the video. Thank you the information! Very helpful.

[@howardpianoind]

Thank you very much!

[@writerinrwanda]

Hello from Rwanda. We have a few pianos here over 100 years old with noticeable slippage. We were planning to try gluing them, but would you recommend this over gluing? Thanks.

[@howardpianoind]

The first thing to try would be glue since that is probably the most effective solution.

[@iamNathanGreen]

How do you measure the torque from the pins? And should it be the same torque for the lower and higher register?

[@howardpianoind]

A special tuning pin torque wrench is used to measure the torque of the tuning pins. We sell such an item in our online store. Ideally, the pins will have uniform torque for ease of tuning, but as long as all the pins are tight enough it would be Ok if one section has tighter pins than another.

[@iamNathanGreen]

@@howardpianoind you mean the 'piano ratchet star head' from your website? And then you put it on a normal torque wrench and go up in strength to see when the pins start to turn?

[@writerinrwanda]

​@@iamNathanGreen I'm curious about this too, but I'm not sure they see when people reply to their replies.

[@howardpianoind]

I'm sorry we missed this comment. The tuning pin torque wrench is available here: www.howardpianoindustries.com/tuning-pin-torque-wrench/

[@howardpianoind]

I'm sorry we missed this comment. The tuning pin torque wrench is available here: www.howardpianoindustries.com/tuning-pin-torque-wrench/

[@edgaracosta9976]

Do you fist losen the strings all the way before you pound the pins or do you set the tension of the string to its intended tuning and then you pound the pin?

[@howardpianoind]

There is no need to loosen the strings before pounding and the pounding is done before doing any tuning because the pounding with knock the strings out of tune.

[@monke2871]

Hello! Why is it that you performed this method on all of the bass tuning pins? In Arthur Reblitz’ book, I understood it as if when a large number of tuning pins are going out of tune fast, it could be an indication of a cracked pinblock, and that pounding the pins deeper could worsen the problem. Thanks so much for the video!

[@howardpianoind]

Thank you for watching! It is true that it can be an indication of a cracked pin block. However, most institutions such as schools do not want to invest the money into replacing a pin block. This can be a solution for pianos that are past their prime, but not worth replacing to due financial constraints. There are other methods, such as "doping" the pin block with a high-viscosity CA glue that can also provide a solution to the problem of loose tuning pins. Thanks again!

[@monke2871]

@@howardpianoind Thanks a lot for your answer! I find your videos to be tremendously useful in my journey towards becoming a piano technician

[@sicmonic]

Thank you for the excellent video demonstration. Do you recommend this method over the CA glue method, or this method first and then if they loose torque again the glue method after the pin hammer method?

[@howardpianoind]

We would recommend doing the glue method first.

[@sicmonic]

@@howardpianoind Thank you!

[@tjbuege]

What about pins that are too tight? I had a number of bass pins that were too loose, and could no longer be pounded in. My piano tech replaced them with larger pins. Now some of those pins are so tight, I can hardly turn them when tuning the piano. It’s really not fun trying to tune this piano. How can I loosen these up a bit?

[@howardpianoind]

Unfortunately, I know of no easy solution to correct tuning pins that are too tight.

[@sirisaacalbertmravinszky2671]

Hello, I've got two questions. Would you do this on a grand piano in the same way? And in what unit do you measure the torque? Thanks in advance!

[@howardpianoind]

Yes, but when doing it on a grand piano you will want to use a pinblock support jack (www.howardpianoindustries.com/pinblock-support-jack/ ). It is measured in inch pounds, which can be done with a tuning pin torque wrench (www.howardpianoindustries.com/tuning-pin-torque-wrench/ ).

[@sirisaacalbertmravinszky2671]

@@howardpianoind Thanks for the precise answer! However, the links generate a 404 error message ...

[@howardpianoind]

I'm sorry about that! Try these links: www.howardpianoindustries.com/pinblock-support-jack/ www.howardpianoindustries.com/tuning-pin-torque-wrench/

[@timswed5149]

What would you recommend doing if by chance you grounded the string to the piano bed?

[@howardpianoind]

You can turn the pin out about a half turn, or enough to remove the string from the tuning pin hole ( the becket hole), then unwind the pin another turn or two, enough so that when you reinsert the becket ( bent portion of the wire) in the hole and tighten back up to pitch, the string coil will be above the plate again. If it feels like unwinding the pin will make it too loose to hold a tune, then you may want to remove the pin completely and use a one or two size larger pin in it's place.

[@jamesfoster9842]

Question: Tuning pins have very small threads. That’s what allows us to unscrew them out of the block, correct? So, if you drive the pins in with a hammer, how is it that you’re not stripping the threads that the metal pins have carved into the wooden block??? This seems destructive to me. Though I’m not a piano tech, i was born the same year as Archimedes.

[@howardpianoind]

The threads are small, but also very shallow, which makes the pounding not an issue.

[@lillil6490]

Hi, my tuner recommended against this and the gluing “hack” on our 80 year old Cable Nelson. He seemed a little suspect of the method but mostly discouraged investing in a piano that is worth nothing. While I expressed wanting to get a newer, better sounding instrument it is a family heirloom I still would love to play from time to time. Is there any risk to this procedure and could one do it oneself? Any ideas why he was averse besides the “wasted” investment?

[@howardpianoind]

The pounding or gluing methods won't damage the piano. The technician might just have a personally bad view of doing repairs on an old piano. You can do the gluing method yourself and it will only cost the amount that the glue is to purchase.

[@augustjologs1]

How long would a pounded pin hold before it gets loose again? Is there a maximum number of pins that could be pounded - that is, if they are too many, it's better to resize pins or the pin block is no longer good?

[@howardpianoind]

I think the number of years this repair will last will very greatly depending on things like the quality of the pin block, how often the piano is tuned, climat, etc...but my experience tells me the benefits can last for 5 to 10 years. Since pounding the pins only takes a few seconds per pin there is not a maximum number over which point oversize pins or a installing a new pinblock becomes a more economical approach.

[@RobinMBlind-wf2vg]

I'll assume that your torque readings are in inch-pounds (?).

[@howardpianoind]

Yes, that is correct.

[@amyschmidt4130]

What type of hammer are you using?

[@howardpianoind]

I am using a 3 to 5 pound hand held sledge hammer.

[@josephponomarenko1624]

i tuned a whole piano and at the end i looked and the strings pretty much all of them went back out of tune, is that loose pins or do i just have to tune it again right after

[@howardpianoind]

If you had to adjust the pitch very much, that will make the other strings go out of tune as you tune it. That's why you do a pitch raise if the piano is more than five cents out of tune.

[@tilc2k]

What's the name of the intro piece

[@howardpianoind]

Frederic Chopin - Nocturnes, Op. 9: No. 2 in E-Flat Major. It's a classic!

[@wilsonchen2637]

Why do they still not change the design? I wonder if it works using some kind of clip to hold the pin against other pin.

[@culuscha934]

Great vid but I don't use such a heavy hammer. 6oz.woth more light taps. Too deep and it's too late. Thanks again for sharing.

[@howardpianoind]

When I have only a few loose pins on a grand piano that I want to tap, I also use a very small hammer and use many taps. This allows me to take care of the problem without removing the action to support the pinblock with a pinblock jack, because with a small hammer the unsupported pinblock will not be in danger of being damaged.

[@splendidjay8471]

Said: "you only have to hit them once. " then proceed to hit the first one 4 times in just a few seconds....lol