Cracked Keybed

[Brian Trout]

Hi Terry,

I've had a couple of these to deal with over the last few years, never an
Everett, but similar situations nonetheless.

I tried glue, and screws and dowels and a bunch of different stuff.
Usually, the leg is close enough to the edge of the keybed that it keeps
breaking out again, or it's too difficult to get a proper amount of glue
into the break without doing cosmetic damage... etc, etc...

What has worked for me in the past is routing out a healthy section of that
corner of the keybed (bottom side) and gluing in a piece of pinblock
material.  Usually, it can be done without any damage to the appearance and
for all practical purposes is a very solid and invisible repair.  You just
have to be mindful of screws that might be holding the keyframe to the
keybed and similar things that could do a number on your router bit.  It is
much easier if you can tilt the piano over on it's back to get to the bottom
of the keybed.

(This is a little messy.  I've never tried it in someone's home, only in the
shop.  Routers tend to make a lot of flying wood chips.)

There might be a few more options that might work.  The way it's broken out
can make a difference how it can be repaired.

I'm looking forward to other suggestions as well.

Good luck,

Brian Trout
Quarryville, PA
btrout@desupernet.net