damaged pinblocks?

[A440A@aol.com]

Greetings all;

    There's been quite a variety of answers on why the pins in some "new"
pianos are loose,  so here is another.

    The bottom two pins on our school's concert piano,  a year after we had
it,  became too loose to hold.  This happened over a very short span.  Upon
investigation,  I found that the tuning pin hole had been drilled even with
the edge of the plate webbing, and when that original 2/0 pin was hammered
in,  it was wedged up hard against the metal of the plate.
    It didn't take too long for the pin to ream the wood that was providing
half the pressure.   When I carefully ground out a .030" cresent for
clearance, a 3/0 pin almost dropped in the hole!  This hole was oblong.
    I knew on the second tap that a 5/0 pin was not going to be tight either,
sooo........
I plugged the hole with a softwood dowel, then  drilled a 3/8" hole all the
way through the block and plugged it with two Falconwood plugs.  After
redrilling the tuning pin hole, through the plugs,  I repinned with a 3/0
pin, and the repair has  held now for 18 years, on stage.

     So,  some loose pins may be due soap, or cracks, or lubricant seepage.
 Others are loose due to human error.

Regards,
Ed Foote