Steinway M Agraffe - Broke?

[Susan Kline]

Yes, Old Maxim <grin>, we are in complete agreement. I've seen two broken 
Steinway
agraffes in the last two months, and I got both to turn happily out by tapping
at a shallow angle around the edges with an ice pick, trying to induce
counter-clockwise motion.

I've heard someone (sorry, I forget who) say that if you drill, you can press
the brass into the threads, and make the stub more stuck. Also, if you don't
drill exactly straight, you can start drilling through the threads in the
plate. And both the drill and the easy out can break off, making you very
unhappy. This has never happened to me, but then I never drilled one, either.

Both these pianos (an M and a B) were from the 70's. I suspect that people
were in a hurry and overturned the agraffes to line them up, instead of
using plate shims. The stem took the torque for about thirty years, and
then thought it had put up with enough. The M had another one replaced
already, right beside the one that broke. The B is a possible candidate
for restringing anyway, and if the department decides to do it, I'll
make sure that the agraffes are replaced.

Anyway, if I am faced with one of these again, I'll work for a long time
with an ice pick before reaching for a drill.

Susan Kline

At 05:26 PM 8/5/2003 -0400, Bill wrote:
>Terry,
>
>Before doing any drilling, try an ice pick or similar sharp tool and a small
>hammer and tap the broken end off center counter-clockwise to see if it will
>start turning.  I have had good success once or twice with this method.
>
>Oh-OH, here comes Tool Police Captain Garrett and I can't find my flame
>suit!
>
>Bill Maxim
>Columbia, SC