Piano Tuning Techniques to Handle Fortissimos

[mrcreosote]

I read a comment there are techniques that allow fortissimos to be played and not degrade the tune.  (I have a who tunes his own mechanical music collection and always asks me to pay them gently so they stay in tune.)

I suspect part of this is balancing the tension on each side of a pin, bridge, etc. because movement there would ruin the tune.

[indianajo]

Mechanical gadgets may have particularly *****y pin blocks.  A quality piano should be capable of holding tune at any volume.
OTOH, pianos that were not tuned regularly take a set with flat treble strings.  A major pitch raise after 44 years of neglect required seven tunings for my 1940 Steinway to settle down.  However, it was fine for two years after that; it has a great solid maple pin block.  
Use of the tuning "hammer" to set the pin in may help, by driving it into the wood, but that also may damage the pin block.  I prefer not to do that, I just keep tuning until the wires stretch the proper amount.   I just did the second tuning of a 1950's Baldwin Howard baby grand last Saturday, center to  upper octave pitch sagged pretty badly after three weeks.  The late service pianist plays pretty loudly, but she paid (the church) for the original tuning. That was obviously the first time in decades.  Other Howards I tune settle in after a couple of times, but I don't have very strong fingers. I don't have to play that loudly, the congregation out there in the country is usually 8 or so people. When I'm not there they use computerized music.     

[latrobe]

Many tuners don't settle the pin properly and the instrument will then go out of tune during a concert. The different sections of string have to be equalised with the same tension throughout and the pin has to be happy in its rest position.

Three aspects of tuning technique are necessary and appropriate in different circumstances.

The other aspect is to tune the instrument to its own pitch rather than insisting on perfect 440 on each tuning. If one can tune an instrument at the point at which two of every three strings are in tune with themselves, tuning is a doddle and stability of the instrument is achieved for years at a time.

Best wishes

David P