My First Agraffe Repair

David Ilvedson ilvey@sbcglobal.net
Mon, 28 Feb 2005 08:38:40 -0800


If you can reuse the string you will know immediately when brought up to tension.   I've just about always been able to reuse the string.

David Ilvedson



----- Original message ----------------------------------------
From: "William R. Monroe" <pianotech@a440piano.net>
To: <robert.scott@tunelab-world.com>, Pianotech <pianotech@ptg.org>
Received: Mon, 28 Feb 2005 07:58:17 -0600
Subject: Re: My  First Agraffe Repair


>Robert,

>I'd be cautious with using the old strings.  I know others have said go for
>it, but from what you described, straightening out the old coil could
>greatly fatigue the wire throughout that length, leading to broken strings.
>Not saying don't do it, just saying in my experience, I've been bitten more
>than once when I've had to bend the wire more than once, whether with a
>splice or otherwise.  It just makes me nervous.

>William R. Monroe



>----- Original Message ----- 
>From: "Robert Scott" <robert.scott@tunelab-world.com>
>To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
>Sent: Sunday, February 27, 2005 7:16 PM
>Subject: My First Agraffe Repair


>>
>> There’s a 1927 Steinway M whose strings are a little rusty.  Even after
>> putting a drop of Protek where the strings go through the agraffe, one of
>> them broke off at the threads while I was lowering the pitch of G#2 (a
>> bichord).  So I guess I will be doing my first agraffe repair job.
>>
>> What worries me the most is how to decide whether to put one more
>> half-turn into the agraffe.  I don’t want to leave the agraffe too loose,
>> and I don’t want to tighten it so tight that I break it off.  Ideally, I
>> would like a torque spec so I could use a torque wrench to help me make
>> the decision.  If the agraffe is pointing in the right direction, but the
>> torque is less than X ft-lb, then I will go for another half-turn.  Can
>> anyone tell me what ft-lb limit I should use?  I guess most of you who do
>> this a lot develop a feel for how tight is enough, but I  need to get it
>> right the first time.
>>
>> In addition, I also wonder how one goes about centering the drill for the
>> easy-out on the remains of the old agraffe so that threads in the plate
>> are not damaged.  Should I expect to mess them up and just commit to going
>> up from the current 7/32" size to the 1/4" size agraffe by re-tapping the
>> plate?  And even if I don’t mess up the threads, it is usual to run a tap
>> through them anyway just to clean them up before the new agraffe is
>> installed?
>>
>> Finally, I managed to remove the old bass strings without cutting them by
>> straightening them just enough to slide through the old agraffe, so that
>> maybe I could re-use the old bass strings.  Is that a reasonable
>> expectation?
>>
>> Robert Scott
>> Ypsilanti, Michigan
>> _______________________________________________
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>>
>>


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