Dale,
Why are you concerned about getting epoxy on the top of the block? The only problem I can think of is getting a bunch of little bubbles on top of the new block where all the tuning pin holes are in the plate. I've put clear packing tape on the underside of the plate when glassing the block to prevent epoxy from oozing out the tuning pin holes in the plate. Works well, and if you want to glass the top of the block, you can do that too. Maybe overkill, but it sure makes a super fit. Otherwise my protocol is just about the same as yours, except I probably use only 1/3 of the plate screws but also clamp the block in during glassing.
William R. Monroe
Hi Will...All
Which is a good lesson to all of us for a careful plate flange to block fit when installing a new block or restringing an old one. Three things will help eliminate the annoying pin leaning against the plate syndrome.
1. is slightly reaming out each flange hole in the plate.
2. is carefully marking & drilling of the tuning pin holes &
3. , which virtually eliminates the possibility of the pin leaning is to epoxy fit your block to the plate flange.
Yes I once moaned out loud on list to Farrel & Nossaman that the epoxy thing was over kill, yada, yada yada...but I was wrong. After I employed this epoxy fit routine there was no more creeping etc. & the pitch of the piano stabilized from the very first 2 chippings. Religiously following the above protocol has eliminated any block creep & pin lean in our shop. Prior to this we were very careful of our plate fit but this made it a bullet proof fit.
Epoxy treatment of existing blocks is also doable. Remove the plate & spray the bottom of it with a mold release agent. Mix the epoxy with a West systems 404 filler till it is like peanut butter & swipe it on the block flange only. I set a sheet of wax paper over the entire block face to prevent any contamination & install the plate over this using about half the screws to set the fit to the block.
Dale
Will wrote
and unfortunately Baldwin was not always careful in fitting the block to the plate flange. The net result is that you will often see tuning pins binding against the front of that plate hole, and lots of binding friction between the pin and the plate. Jumpy, snappy, hard to control tuning pins are the result; along with a tuner muttering, cursing, and gnashing teeth.
The best thing to do in this situation is to accept that suffering is part of the human condition, and try not to wail out loud every time you run into one of these.
Will Truitt
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