RAIL PIN REMOVAL/REPLACEMENT

[Thomas D. Seay III]

>I am working on a piano that has slightly water damaged.  The balance & front
>rail pins are slightly rusty.  Seems to me replacing them would be the way to
>go.  They don't cost that much.  I pulled one each of the two kinds of pins.
> They were difficult to remove.  Any tips for easy/safe removal and what is
>best way to put them back in the holes without marring them?  Thanks
>
>Dick Day
>Marshall MI

Hello Dick,

I just did that same job yesterday (front guide pins only). Removing the
pins is difficult, however you do it. I used a large pair of vise-grips,
with which I gripped the pin at its bottom. Twisting the pliers from left
to right (12:00 to 3:00) as I pulled up seemed to give me the best results.

Clean and lightly sand the front rail BEFORE you replace the pins. It's
much more difficult to do afterwards (ask me sometime how I know!).

I used my drill press to press the new pins in place. I clamped a piece of
plywood large enough to hold the keyframe onto my drill press table. Doing
this allows you to slide the keyframe along under the quill. I also rigged
up a fence along the back of the extension table. I extended the jaws of
the chuck fully and used that surface to press down on the top of the pin.
It didn't seem to mar the top of the pin at all, at least not on my drill
press. Your actual mileage may vary, of course. Set the depth stop to where
you want it. Make sure the sides of the pin are oriented properly, and then
put it in the hole and press down with the quill. Slide the keyframe along
to the next hole and repeat the process. This will put all the pins at the
same depth in the keyframe. The alternative is hammering the new pins in,
which works okay, but you sacrifice a bit of accuracy and most of your
hearing.

You can use the same process for the balance rail as well, although I
probably would turn the glide bolts up into the keyframe just to be sure
that they weren't in the way.

Good luck.

Tom

Tom Seay
School of Music
The University of Texas at Austin