OldTools Archive

Recent Bios FAQ

275831 Don Schwartz <dks@t...> 2022‑07‑01 Re: Are these piano tuner's hammers?
John

I have no doubt Studley would have possessed at least one piano hammer. 
Although in his exhaustive book on topic of the Studley chest and 
workbench, Don Williams doesn't seem to list one. I did find mention of 
a 'piano-regulating' tool, but could not find a photo or description of 
it....

Pianos are strung much like guitars and similar instruments, having a 
tuning peg which holds tension on the strings. But piano strings require 
considerable tension, and so a little thumb button such as you see on 
fiddles and guitars would never do. Instead, they are tightened using a 
wrench sized to suit the pegs. In my limited experience, they are 
generally nice things, plated and brass, with turned hardwood, even 
rosewood handles. Salaman refers to it as a tuning hammer, also spinet 
hammer and piano wrester. He describes it as

"a small key-wrench with a square, star or oblong hole... used for 
turning the wrest pins on which the ends of the piano wires are wound. 
The cross handle is sometimes used as a hammer for tapping home the 
wrest pins when necessary."

Why they are called a hammer rather than a wrench is beyond me. 
Especially since the wooden felt-tipped piano components which strike 
the strings to sound them are also called piano hammers.... Autoharps 
are tuned with a similar, but smaller wrench. Harps as well.

fwiw
Don

On 2022-07-01 1:05 p.m., John Ruth wrote:
> On Thu, Jun 30, 2022 at 11:30 PM, Don Schwartz wrote:
>
>> They don't remotely resemble any piano tuning hammers I've ever seen.
>>
> Don,
>
> Thanks for that.
>
> Another Porch dweller suggested looking at the Studley Tool Chest to see if
anything matches. Henry Studley was indeed a piano builder. Whether a builder
ever has need for a tuning hammer is not known to me. In any case, watching a
few YouTubes about the famous chest did not reveal anything resembling the tools
in question.
>
> So, still wondering about the identity of these mystery tools.
>
> John Ruth
>
>
> 
>
>

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Recent Bios FAQ