This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ---------------------- multipart/mixed attachment 1942 Steinway S in a nice club. Has broken mahogany lyre braces -- broken about 7-8 inches from the lyre brace block (on the underside of the piano). There is at least one broken piece that is missing. Woodworking is not something I have much experience in, and I don't visualize these things well until after I have botched it at least once to know how not to do it. So, what I was thinking about doing might be totally dumb. Oh well, I'm not too proud to ask "stupid questions" so I can learn. ;-) I can certainly find dowel stock and stain it so it would be a decent match. That's easy enough, and since the club is rather dark it wouldn't be that noticeable. However, I was thinking of re-using the good portions so as to retain some of the original look of the nicely turned braces. I would do this by putting a wood insert nut in the brace. (See the attached picture.) I would cut the brace in the larger diameter section, then drill a hole for the threaded insert. The insert accepts a 5/16" carriage bolt, and I would get a bolt the proper length. The bolts would be painted black or some other color so they would not be visible from a distance. By doing it this way you could also easily adjust the length of the brace by turning the carriage bolt (assuming you drill the hole a bit deeper than the insert). The piano is in a club and is susceptible to careless abuse that no doubt caused the braces to break. (I'm guessing something was shoved under the piano and they snapped.) Whatever repair decision should be made with a view that something like this might happen again. I'm a bit concerned that the proposed repair would not be as strong as the dowel rod, so I'm wondering if it's worth the effort to do the insert/bolt thing only to possibly have it break again soon. Would this work? What is your repair/replacement method in this situation? Thanks, John Formsma ---------------------- multipart/mixed attachment A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: broken lyre.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 43589 bytes Desc: not available Url : https://www.moypiano.com/ptg/pianotech.php/attachments/26/9b/95/da/brokenlyre.jpg ---------------------- multipart/mixed attachment--
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