As I understand it, tuning hammers were used historically both to 
install the wrest pins in the wrest plank and to adjust them, to bring 
them all to the same height above the plank. This would have been a 
maker's task. One end of the tool's head was blunt and shaped like a 
hammer head, the other end like a wrench. The maker could install the 
pin with one end of the tool, then turn it over to adjust the height.

Don

On 2022-07-01 9:12 p.m., Frank Filippone wrote:
>
> A piano maker is not a tuner.  Different skills.
>
> A Maker would not necessarily own a tuning hammer... and probably not.
>
> Just as a tuner would probably not own a hand plane.
>
> Studley being a maker, would probably not own a tuning hammer.... he 
> would have sent the piano over to the tuners and they would string it 
> up and tune it.
>
> A regulator is some part inside the piano..... If you wish to follow 
> this thought, look it up.... or go here:
>
> https://shacklefordpianos.com/blogs/blog/6-things-about-piano-regulation
>
>
> From that page..... and very nerdy
>
> *Regulation is the adjustment of the mechanical aspects of the pianos 
> *to compensate for the effects of wear,*the compacting and settling of 
> cloth, felt, and buckskin, as well as dimensional changes in wood and 
> wool parts due to changes in humidity. *
>
> *The three systems involved in regulation are the action, trapwork and 
> damper system.*
>
> *The action is the mechanical part of the piano* *that transfers the 
> motion of the fingers on the keys to the hammers that strike the 
> strings.* It is comprised of over 9,000 parts which require adjustment 
> to critical tolerances to be able to respond to a pianist's every command.
>
> *The trapwork is the assemblage of levers, dowels and springs* *that 
> connects the pedals to the action affecting sustain and dynamics. *
>
> *The damper system is the mechanical part of the piano that stops the 
> vibration of the string* when you release the key and is controlled by 
> the key and pedal systems.
>
>
> Frank Filippone
> BMWRed735i@G...
> On 7/1/2022 12:53 PM, Don Schwartz wrote:
>> 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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