pinblock drillpress

[Brian Trout]

Hi Eliot,

I was thinking about this one while I was out tuning today.  (It's amazing
what a mind can think about while tuning...)

I don't know a lot of where you're going with this one, so my comments may
not help. ?

I've read a number of the other posts in response to your query, and from
what I saw, there was some good advice posted already.

I do hope the 7 deg. angle isn't just a figure you're thinking of using,
simply because that's what somebody said some years ago and everybody
remembered it.  Like other people have said, on a lot of pianos, it can be
excessive, and can make it more difficult to get and keep the coils tight on
the tuning pins.  I've seen the figure 5 deg. tossed about as better.  From
my own experience, the longer I make pinblocks, the smaller I've been making
that number.  Most of mine are now down to 2 or maybe 3 degrees at this
point, but vary somewhat from one piano to another.

I've never drilled a pinblock in a piano.  I have an old maple plank,
something like 10" wide and about 4' long that sits on a wedge shaped block
that gives about a 7 deg. angle if I just bolt it flat to the drill press
table.  Then the whole thing gets bolted onto the drill press table with
some flat washers placed so that the angle is adjusted to where I want it.
It takes almost as long to describe it as it does to set it all up.  The
'plank' gives a nice work surface and doesn't make you work quite as hard,
especially when drilling the ends.

As for using a radial drill press, I was wondering if you would need to set
it _on_ the piano at all??  What would happen if you swung the arm all the
way out towards the back, out and over the keybed of the piano to do the
drilling?  My radial drill press has a reach of about 32" I think, so there
would probably be plenty of room for a lot of pianos.  And to angle or slant
the pin, you might try angling the Piano instead of the drill press.
Something like removing a caster from the nose leg, or putting the two
'front' legs on larger casters or shop dollies might be enough to get you
the angle you need.  (There's more than one way to get the angle.)

One thing about this business... there's probably a hundred variations on
just how to accomplish something.  Think about it, and you'll probably come
up with a variation of your very own.

Good luck, and happy drilling.  :-)

Brian Trout
Quarryville, PA
btrout@desupernet.net





\Original Message -----
From: Eliot Lee <elee@amug.org>
To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: Friday, November 05, 1999 1:05 AM
Subject: pinblock drillpress


> Hello List,
>
> I was wondering which drill press is recommended for an on the
> piano drillpress to drill pinblocks at a 7 degree angle.  What kind of
> attachments are needed to make it fit?   If there is an article you could
> refer me to in the PTG journal, I could look it up or buy the back issue.
>
> Maybe  one of you have come up with a different attachment which
> can do the job.
>
> One technician here had a bubble gauge to make sure the angle was
> right for a hand held drill, but I would rather not drill the pins by
hands
> because I probably would mess it up too much.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Eliot Lee
>
> "You are never alone or helpless, the force that guides the stars guides
> you too." -P.R. Sarkar
>
>
>