Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Tuner-Technicians Forum What well tighten lose tuning pins?

I've been told Krazy Glue, or Super Glue works very well on lose tuning pins. Well, I have tried both and have very poor results. I've tried a product called “Pin Tightener” and it also didn’t work.

Does anyone know of a pin tighter that really works? Is there such a thing? Or is replacing the tuning pins the only option?

Did you get the super thin super glue from the hobby store? You need a meduim or large size bottle for the whole piano. If this is an upright you need to tip the piano on it's back before applying the glue.

If that doesn't work, you need a new pin block. Larger pins probably won't hold either. Pinblock replacement isn't recommended on uprights.

You cant use Krazy Glue. You need professional quality CA glue found in some Hobby Shops and specialty firms. Krazy Glue is junk. Pinblock tighteners are also crap.
Is this a vertical or a grand? For a vertical, you will need to tilt it, or lay it on it's back. You also need to use a hypo-syringe to put the CA glue at the bass of the tuning pins, and let it seep in until the pinblock has absorbed all that it will take.
Putting new pins in after you have mixed both in the pinblock will also be useless because the pins will be difficult to render. They will snap and make fine tuning a nightmare.

This might help if it's a grand...I got this tip from an experienced piano tech...buy some of the clear wide packing tape that you would use to tape a box for shipping....remove the keybed to expose the underside of the pinblock. Use the tape to cover all the holes in the pinblock.....take a hypodermic needle, bend the tip so it's at an angle, ( I did it by heating the needle) then fill it with either a liquid pin tightener or the special CA glue, and pierce the tape and fill each hole with the liquid...the tape holds the liquid in and the small hole made by the hypodermic needle does not allow the liquid to escape. I have tried it and it works very well...it saves you from having to tip the piano over etc. Once the liquid has been absorbed, remove the tape and you're done.

Perhaps this would work on a vertical as well..can one get to the back of the pinblock to put the tape on?

GPman

CA glue doesn't stain the plate like Garfields will. If you are careful, CA leaves little mess at all. One more reason CA is the method of choice these days over Garfields.

Hi,

Just a hint. There are 20+ posts in this forum on the proper use of CA glue. you may find it useful to do a search and read these posts.

Merry Christmas!

From a different angle...how many pins are loose? CA works okay, but I've had mixed results. Usually the pins hold well enough, but I don't like the feel of them.

If you're just doing a few pins, the way that has worked best for me is using sandpaper shims.

1. Back the pin out 3/4 or slightly more, just enough so that you can pry the becket away from the hole and get the string off the pin with the aid of a small screwdriver.

2. Tear off a small piece of coarse grit paper, like 60-80, and make a piece long enough to cover the depth of the pin in the block.

3. Size it so that it goes almost all the way around the pin.

4. Shape it around the insert end of the pin.

5. Wrap it tight enough to get it into the hole.
Grit side is out towards the wood.

6. Insert it into the hole far enough so that there's just a small collar sticking out(to be trimmed later). Tweezers or small needle noses work well.

7. Insert and pound--don't screw--the tuning pin most of the way into the block. Leave yourself room to get the string back onto the pin and up to tension.

If you have lots of pins that need tightening, this can get to be really time consuming, and a good CA session might be your best bet.

A great way to CA a tuning pin on upright without tilting the piano is to position a Q-tip on the TOP OF THE PIN, and then add a generous amount of thin CA to the cotton tip. A saturated tip will stay wet about an hour, allowing plenty of time for the CA to wick around the pin without running down the plate.
Wayne Gregory - Piano Tuning by Wayne - Angier,NC