Replacing key balance holes

[Bill Ballard]

I know that our best and brightest are probably busy packing for Reno 
at this moment, but i thought I'd ask the question. I'm gearing up to 
replace balance rail holes and need to choose between the two basic 
designs. The first is the plug-cutter with the pilot/drillbit 
installed dead-center therein, attributed by Rick Baldassin to his 
shop partner in the Journal 6-8 years ago (and sounding similar to 
Newton Hunt's description of Ralph Onesti's jig). The second is the 
Spurlock jig, a strip of steel slightly thinner than the key maybe 3" 
long, with position pins at each end and a hole in the middle the 
same size as the balance pin.

Each of them should in theory do a smart job of relocating the 
original balance hole in a freshly inlay. But I'd like for anyone 
with direct experience with either of these to point out where errors 
can creep in. Errors, BTW can produces hellish consequences.

My only two misgivings about the first one (the plug-cutter with 
pilot) are first, that when an original balance hole gets too close 
to the edge of the key (as they often do) the pilot might not be firm 
enough to keep the plug cutter from wandering off-center as the 
plug-cutter finds maybe 3/4 or even 2/3 of its body biting into wood. 
Is it understood that such an "off-centered" key will always be 
provided with a piece of scrap wood in the vise to prevent this from 
happening. And second is how any backwards leaning of the BR pin (as 
they will do) is dealt with. We DO have to copy this. It seems this 
would require that the inlaid plug would have to have a matching 
tilt, at odds with the plane of the bottom of the key.

Both of these have made me lean towards the Spurlock jig. However 
I've already had three keyboards done for me with this system, and 
have seen straight lines in the keyboard come back ragged, by someone 
whom I thought would have been able to keep things straight.

Bill Ballard RPT
NH Chapter, P.T.G.

"Out here on the food chain, you either
    diet,die, or dine"
     ...........folksinger Mark Graham
+++++++++++++++++++++