Peter & David,

Thanks for your suggestions.

This weekend I took a cutoff of the oak used for my pin block. Using my
brad point drill bits I found that the 1/8 bit seemed to fit but the
difference between 7/64 and 9/64 seemed huge so I went off to a local big
box store of “cheap” imported tools and purchased a box of numbered drill
bits. The #28 (3.53mm) hole allow the tuning pin to slip easily in but the
pin could not enter a #30 (3.24mm) hole but the pin would enter the #29
(3.39mm) hole with a “little” loving of a synthetic hammer head. So I
drilled all the holes with the #29 and pounded a test pin into each and
twisted it out with pliers to ream the hole out a bit. They are still snug
but lets hope they work. If not maybe I will have to grind a slit along the
length of a nail and make it into a poor-man’s reamer! Quite the goldilocks
game.

I have seen the dimension variation in 16 penny nails that David commented
on. The first test pin I made with an old stray nail in my hardware trays
was 4.05mm while the purchased box of nails averaged 3.45mm. I haven’t
tested whether they are ovals. But how did they ever create tuning pegs
when steel and brass rods were hand-drawn?

Thanks again,

Phil

On Fri, May 26, 2017 at 11:04 AM, David Jensen <[log in to unmask]>
wrote:

> It matters which wood your pin block is made or. Different woods have
> different hardness, or resistance to deformation. If yours is hard maple or
> oak, try drilling sample holes of varying diameters. Randomly select one of
> your pins and press it into successive holes to determine which works best:
> holds well, doesn't over-grip the pin, and allows the pin to sit deeply
> enough that you avoid tent-poling. With a softer wood like walnut, one can
> afford a tighter initial grip, as the hole will open up with time, but will
> never slip.
>
> Regarding pins made from nails, I have found recently, in the last five to
> ten years anyway, many big box stores (Home Depot, et al) sell lower
> quality nails in the sizes we use for wrest pins; the wire isn't perfectly
> round, often have machine marks along the length and can vary i diameter
> from nail to nail in the same box. I'm left with the impression that the
> distributor buys vast batches of nails from different Chinese factories,
> the mixes them up when repackaging. Of course, they are selling
> construction nails, not tuning pin stock. How dare they! Don't they know??
>
> OK, I'm off my soap box now.
> dpj
>
>
> On Fri, May 26, 2017 at 12:03 PM, Borys Medicky <[log in to unmask]>
> wrote:
>
> > There are numerous archive posts about tuning pin thicknesses and the
> > appropriate drill bit sizes.  Previous posts from Bill Jurgenson seem to
> > suggest a drill size at least 0.1 mm less than the pin thickness.  Of
> > course he also counsels making some trial holes, using an off-cut saved
> > from when the pinblock was cut to size.
> >
> > I found Bill's advice spot-on for my first building project.  At the time
> > I did not have a good local source for number drill bits (since
> remedied),
> > so for my 4.5 mm tuning pins I used an 11/64" drill bit (4.37 mm) instead
> > of the #17 that might have also worked (4.39 mm).  The holes were a bit
> > tight at first but loosened slightly over time.  They've remained fine
> > since then.
> >
> > BM
> >
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::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Note:  opinions  expressed on HPSCHD-L are those of the  individual con-
tributors and not necessarily  those of the list owners  nor of the Uni-
versity of Iowa.  For a brief  summary of list  commands, send mail to
[log in to unmask]  saying  HELP .
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