why are piano tunering levers so expensive?

Question

More importantly, why don't they just making a head for a socket wrench that tunes pianos?

The cheapest piano tuning lever *that was not goose neck* was around 35 dollars. thats too much money to pay for a piece of metal.

Answer 1

Heheh... well, the price is high, because there aren't many folks buying them. This also reflects the attitude that it is a "Craftsman's" tool -- by that I mean a skilled artisan. You will find similar prices on chisels, and wood carving tools, if that helps explain it better.

Now.. as to why you dont use a socket wrench.... Tuning a piano takes very precise handling...a socket wrench just has too much play in it to serve this purpose.

For the serious piano tuner, you would expect to see them with a collection of extended handle tuning wrenches.. goosenecks, as they are sometimes called... this is because the longer handle offers more precise movement, which translates into more exact tuning of the strings.

It is also quite common to find a professional tuner will have several of these tuning wrenches in his toolbox, along with felt, and other materials. Pianos have more than one string per note, to give them added volume. EACH string must be tuned exactly.

If you think the wrenches are expensive you should try pricing some of the electronic tuners! lol

On the bright side.... You buy the tuning wrench only once -- and it will last thru your lifetime, and beyond. When looked at like that... its a good investment. Especially if you own a piano. The least expensive professional tuner Ive found, was $75... If you have the ability and time, to tune a piano yourself.... you can pay for the tools easily. (If you buy one of the fancy tuners... of course.. it will take a few more to pay it off, lol)

Have Fun

Answer 2

From what I've seen, the .357 and .44 mag carbines tend to run approx $100-150 more than a comparable .30-30 (used on both). The main reason here is supply and demand, there are a ton of .30-30's on the market, and not a lot of the others. Couple this with the fact that recently people have been discovering (or re-discovering if you look at history) that lever actions chambered for revolver rounds are not only handy but a lot of fun, drives up the demand. Check out any store's used rack, or a gun show. You will have no problem finding .30-30's, but the others will be harder to find. The upfront cost of a .357 or .44 will be more. If you go with a .357 they can handle .38 spl ammo, which plinking ammo is still comparatively inexpensive enough where if you plan on shooting it a lot, this will balance the cost out in time. Mine handles the .38's quite well and at most normal shooting distances with it, accuracy does not suffer compared to the full powered .357's. Really if you plan on using it for mostly target shooting, I would lean towards the .357 here due to the versatility. As I mentioned the .38's are cheaper, and they work well on small game and pests. A full powered .357 will drop a deer, just range will be more of a factor than with the .30-30. These are just plain fun handy little carbines, if you don't mind the little extra upfront cost.