Agraffes

[Ron Torrella]

Speaking of agraffe tools...although Pianotek's catalog says that their Counterbore
for Agraffes [2332] can be used by hand, I had rotten luck attempting to do so when I
had to remove a fair amount of material. And you can't chuck it in a drill press
unless you have a special chuck.

I thought I might be able to put a drill blank down the center because I noticed that
there's a set screw down towards the business end of the counterbore, but that
wouldn't work. I don't think that's in intended purpose of the set screw.

I've toyed with the idea of sending the piece off to the mill to have the non-business
end turned down to 3/8 - 1/2" so I have a shank for the drill press chuck. But the
cost would probably be prohibitive.

Anyone have any better luck with this?

Ron Torrella, RPT

S. Brady" wrote:

> Lorlin,
>         PianoTek still carries them. Cat. #AR-12, Agraffe Reamer. They
> work great.
>
> Steve
>
> On Wed, 11 Aug 1999, Lorlin D. Barber wrote:
>
> > About 5 years ago I was at the Central Regional PTG meeting in Minneapolis and
> > Susan Graham was giving a class there.  Susan had fabricated the nicest little
> > hand held agraffe countersink tool.  At that time Pianotech supply was to be
> > carrying it.  I have been looking for this tool since then but to no avail.
> >
> > If anyone knows the source of this gem, I assure you it would be of great benefit
> > in this situation (and I would be delighted as well).
> >
> > Lorlin Barber
> > Iowa State Univ.
> > Music Dept.
> >
> > Paul Kupelian wrote:
> >
> > > Hi,
> > >
> > > Of course replacing the agraffes would be the best solution.  However, if
> > > you decide to clean them, I have found that using a buffing belt or wheel
> > > with red
> > > rouge does a nice job of polishing, and then follow that up with the
> > > reaming.
> > >
> > > I made a neat little agraffe holder out of oak that I use to hold the
> > > agraffe against the belt or wheel.  (I use a Delta 1" belt sander that I
> > > have buffing belts for.) The tool is 1" X 1/2" X 3". I sanded
> > > it to a bevel on one end so it looks like a giant carpenters pencil.  I
> > > drilled a hole in the center just large enough to thread the agraffe in.
> > > Works great and I don't end up buffing my fingers even though sometimes
> > > they may need it too (:>.
> > >
> > > On Wed, 11 Aug 1999, Mary C. Smith wrote:
> > >
> > > > List,
> > > >
> > > > I have just encountered a Baldwin L with cat pee on the piano wire in the
> > > > mid-range. The urine has caused considerable rusting on the pin side of the
> > > > strings in this area, and strings are all ready starting to break. I plan to
> > > > restring the mid-range plain wire only, as the problem is confined to this
> > > > area, and I know the customer does not want to afford a complete
> > > > restringing. My question is this: should I replace all or some of the
> > > > agraffes (4 of them are polluted with crud), or should I clean and ream? If
> > > > cleaning is recommended, what would be the best thing to use? Thanks in
> > > > advance for input.
> > > >
> > > > Mary Smith
> > > >
> >
> > --
> > Barbers Piano Service, Inc.
> > Phone No. 515-274-5940
> > Website: http://www.commongroup.net/barberspiano
> >
> >
> >
>
> _________________________________________________
>
> Steve Brady, RPT
> Head Piano Technician, University of Washington
> Editor, Piano Technicians Journal
>
>
>