Agraffes

[Donald E. Mannino]

Mark,

Warning: if you try to drill more with a hard drill bit, there is a good
chance the bit will catch on the broken easy-out and will also break off in
the agraffe. This will leave you with a small amount of brass and lots of
very hard steel in there. Ask me how I know!!!

One big problem with easy-outs is that they can actually tighten the brass
more in the hole. This is why they can break off in the hole like yours
did.

Try the sharpened screwdriver idea first. Give it a few minutes and try to
get a really good bite in the brass, then see if it won't spin out.

If this fails, get a right angle drill and some good sharp drill bits. They
don't have to be especially fancy, just sharp. Using a mirror on the
keybed, carefully centerpunch the bottom of the agraffe. A short center
punch and a hammer held sideways will allow this. Slowly and carefully,
paying special attention to the vertical alignment of the drill bit, drill
up from the bottom until you hit the bottom of the easy-out. Keep your
pressure light and you will feel the drill bit hit the hard steel.

Once you have drilled through to the easy-out stub, take the drill away and
insert a small drift punch into the hole from the bottom, tap up on the
easy out, and it should come loose easily. Get it out of there, drill the
hole clean all the way through from the top, then get back to removing the
agraffe.

>From here it depends on how much brass is left in the hole. If the
remaining brass is thin you can just tease the remaining material away with
a jeweler's screwdriver. If there is much left you should try again to spin
the agraffe out with the screwdriver, or something similar.  Since you will
have a hole in the middle, a small Phillips screwdriver may also be able to
grab in the hole.

Be sure you have the tap to clean up the threads before installing the new
agraffe. Steinway can tell you the correct diameter and TPI.

Best of luck.

Don Mannino RPT