[CAUT] screw-y stuff

Dan Reed pianoarts at tx.rr.com
Tue Dec 9 17:51:42 PST 2008


Alan,

Have you explored the wonders of using Leather in stripped holes?  
There are many advantages:

BYW, Leather, Buck / Doe skin, can be cut easily using the hand held 
Anvil cutters (Rose pruning cutters) . They also can snip woven felt 
nicely....buy a good pair.

Advantages:
#1) The pliable Leather will conform to the wall of the screw hole...

#2) The Leather will bond well to the screw hole wall, using your 
favorite glue...

Super-glue can work well..keep in mind, Super glue will turn Leather to 
Kriptonite...I have broken off screw heads by putting  too much Leather 
in the hole, with Super glue as the bonding agent....

#3) Most importantly, the Leather will conform to the screws 
threads....unlike maple or wood shims....

I Like applying Teflon powder to the screw, which allows a tighter 
fit....Teflon powder, the Wonder Drug of the Piano Technician...

#4) The amount of space to fill can be varied by the thickness, and 
length of the leather shim...

Here is a typical repair sequence:

If the screw needs to end up exactly in the same position, like a 
hammer flange screw for example, roll a small piece of Buck/Doe skin in 
a circle, to line the hole.

(Simply sticking in a piece of Leather (or wood) in the side of the 
hole, would off-set the screw)

If you wish, you can apply the glue to the Leather or hole, insert the 
Leather, and insert the screw partially, till it sets up. To help 
insure the screw doesn't twist or distort the Leather shim, applying 
Teflon powder to the screw threads will help....

This repair may or may not be the best route to take for your list of 
repairs...but with proper pre-testing (before gluing) you can determine 
if you will be successful.

Dan

Dallas






On Dec 9, 2008, at 10:40 AM, reggaepass at aol.com wrote:

> List,
>
> With annual "Stripped Screw Hole Day" repidly approaching here at 
> CalArts, I would appreciate recommendations for four different 
> lid-related screw hole repairs on four different pianos.  
>
> Yamaha C7E: screw holes of female (rim-mounted) lid locator hardware 
> (torn out by repeated collisions between lid and immovable object, 
> such as wall)
>
> Baldwin F: lid hinge screw holes; the many short ones on the lid 
> itself (ditto above cause for damage)
>
> Steinway B: stripped out lock-bar screw holes (don't know how this 
> happened)
>
> Steinway D: screw holes in the flyleaf and lid, for the screws that 
> fasten the long "piano" hinge (due to over-tightening and/or handling)
>
> I was planning on installing delignit plugs in the rim of the Yamaha 
> and glue-sizing (possibly with some non-glue material added) for the 
> others.
>
> Thoughts?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Alan Eder
> The Herb Alpert School of Music 
> at CalArts
>
> Listen to 350+ music, sports, & news radio stations – including songs 
> for the holidays – FREE while you browse. Start Listening Now!
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: text/enriched
Size: 3024 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/caut_ptg.org/attachments/20081209/34ba4340/attachment.bin>


More information about the CAUT mailing list

This PTG archive page provided courtesy of Moy Piano Service, LLC