Bolduc Block - Bit Size - Torque

[A440A@aol.com]

> a new Bolduc quarter-sawn  (more-or-less) hard-maple pinblock. I am using 
Ron Nossaman's two-bit
> drilling method. I started out with a final drill size of 0.25-inch 
> (actually the drill bit that Pianotek sells specifically for the Bolduc
> blocks - it is actually about 0.247-inch). I was consistently getting
>an  initial torque exceeding 200 in.-lbs. . I am getting an initial torque 
(right after pounding the
> pin to stringing height) of about 180 in.-lbs.

Yikes,  this is WAY too tight for finesse.  I use the Bolduc blocks with 1/0 
pins and a C drill. I drill them in one pass.  Average beginning torque is 130 
in/lbs,  after one year I see near 115 in/lbs.  The oldest block that I have 
done this way is 5 years old and it is still at 110 in/lbs and tunes like a 
dream.  That particular piano got tuned 85 times last year,(recording studio, 
where every tuning has to hit A-440).   
  I use a D bit in the top octave, it reduces the torque by about 10% and 
makes the top end a lot easier to tune.  
   I use the 1/0 pins because if there were to ever be a problem, I can solve 
it with a "normal" pin.  
Regards,
 Ed Foote RPT 
www.uk-piano.org/edfoote/
www.uk-piano.org/edfoote/well_tempered_piano.html
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