Pin Dope

[Les Smith]

>
> >The piano is an old upright, and the family would
> >like to have it working for their child to practice on.   What tool
> >do I need to inject the liquid into the block?  Do I remove the pins
> >first, or just try to inject it in under pressure of some kind.
>
> Allen,
>
> If there are no tuning pin bushings, lay the piano on its back with a piano
> tilter, and apply the solution according to the directions on the brand of
> solution that you chose.
>
> If there are tuning pin bushings, the pin tightening solution has a pretty
> hard time getting to the area that you are trying to treat.  In one
> instance there was this older studio piano that I treated by drilling a
> hole through the tuning pin bushings, and then applying the solution after
> tilting the piano.  It was a little slower and more awkward.  It did work
> for the most part, though I still had to replace some tuning pins that just
> didn't respond.
>
> Keith A. McGavern, RPT
> Oklahoma Chapter 731
> Oklahoma Baptist University
> Shawnee, Oklahoma
>
Interesting. Although I've never actually done it, I have considered dril-
ling a small hole too. Many times in an older piano the plate bushings are
worn enough so that the first treatment soaks in pretty good, but the same
solution that swells the pinblock also swells the plate bushings, making the
next treatment more difficult. Would I be correct in assuming that you dril-
led your hole through the plate bushing on the side opposite the pull of the
string?

Les Smith
lessmith@buffnet.net