Page 395 equipment and instruments 4654 



4654. Splicing Piano Wire to Stranded Wire 



Piano wire may be spliced to stranded wire by unlaying one of the wii^es of the 

 stranded wire for a distance of about 4 feet and laying the piano wire in its place. The 

 splice should be seized with fine copper wire at each end and at intervals of about a foot, 

 and the entire splice should be cleaned with acid and soldered. The piano wire has a 

 tendency to spring out of the splice unless seized at short intervals. 



4655. Splicing Piano Wire to Manila Line 



Manila line is often used as a stray line on the end of piano wh-e. These can be 

 joined as follows: Tie a single wall knot at the end of the Manila line, and run the piano 

 wire through its center. Tighten the knot, wind the piano wire around the line against 

 its lay for about 10 or 12 turns, and tuck it through the line. Reverse the direction and 

 wind the wire around the line with the lay for 10 or 12 turns. Tuck the wire through the 

 line once again and wind it against the lay of the line for an additional 10 or 12 turns. 

 Tuck the end of the wire, and seize the end of the splice. 



4656. Splicing Piano Wire to Piano Wire 



Piano wire can be spliced in either of two ways. Although it requires more time 

 the following method is far more satisfactory and durable and should always be used for 

 making permanent splices: Overlap the two ends of wire for a distance of about 10 

 feet, with both wires fairly taut. Seize the wires temporarily with sail twine at one end 

 of the overlap and then wind the free wire end around the other wire in a long spiral with 

 about one turn in 2 inches, keeping both wires taut during the procedure. Then seize 

 the other end of the splice temporarily and examine to ensure that the two wires are 

 contiguous throughout the entire length of the splice. Then with fine copper wire 

 seize each end of the splice for a distance of 2 inches, continuing for a short distance along 

 the single wire. Next place two 2-inch seizings so as to divide the splice into three 

 equal parts. Clean all seizings with muriatic acid, wipe with soldering paste, and 

 cover each with a thin coat of solder. 



For emergency repairs to piano wire while sounding, the following alternate method 

 may be preferable, as it requires less time than the one described above: Anneal the 

 end of each wire for a distance of about 2 inches. Then overlap the two wires and wind 

 one around the other in long spiral turns for a distance of about 2 feet. At each end of 

 the splice wind the annealed end of wire in close turns around the other wire. Clean the 

 entire splice with muriatic acid and wipe with soldering paste. Prepare a shallow trough 

 by grooving a piece of timber somewhat longer than the splice. Fill the trough with 

 molten solder and dip the entire splice in the solder. Wipe the splice with folded felt, 

 or other heavy material, greased with tallow, sperm candle, or sweet oil. 



4657. Placing Sounding Wire on Machine 



Placing new sounding wire on the reel of a sounding machine is quite difficult. The 

 coiled wire, especially piano wire, once out of control becomes hopelessly snarled. With 

 patience, stranded wire can sometimes be unsnarled, but it is invariably a waste of 

 time to attempt to straighten out piano wire once it is out of control. 



The use of a wooden cone, as described below, is almost essential in handling piano 

 wire and it expedites handling stranded wire. By its use a coil of stranded wire can be 



