Wood Specie Insert for Capstan

[Michael Spreeman]

Terry, I moved capstans on a D that has Kluge keys. The new holes were going to be pretty close to the back of the original hole, so I didn't want to fill with epoxy or other such substances because of the difficulty of boring down through the intersection of the two and the propensity for the drill bit to choose one side or the other (similar to a few of the list participants <G>).  I considered boring a larger hole and installing larger plugs to alleviate this problem, but I also wanted it to look perty and not have tell tail signs of having been worked on.  I ended up plugging the original holes with spruce and then routing out an area into which a rectangular maple insert was glued. I'll see if I can round up some photos for you.  The maple was cut into strips so several keys could be glued up in sections.  Then the glued together keys were cut apart on the band saw. Not a fun job, and, no doubt there are easier and more efficient approaches, but I'm a glutton for punishment and if there's any way I can make something more difficult than it needs to be........well, you know.   I have a pneumatic centering vise for my drill press (left over from the MBA days) that makes short work of the boring process. Question though,, what is "pushing in the capstans"? I've only bored pilot holes and screwed them in so that there is sufficient torque for stable adjustment.
                Michael  Spreeman http://www.spreemanpianoinnovations.com


From: mfarrel2 at tampabay.rr.comTo: pianotech at ptg.orgSubject: Wood Specie Insert for CapstanDate: Mon, 25 Feb 2008 10:29:30 -0500



I moved a capstan line on a set of key and had lousy results. I plugged the original holes with el-cheepo 2x4 spruce from the local home improvement store. The wood had super-wide grain and the material between winter wood was like styrofoam. When I pressed the capstans in place, many wandered because of the harder original wood and the new spruce on some completely collapsed - really weird - but the end result is a wandering capstan line - just won't do.
 
So, I'm in the process of routing a 3/4" wide section out of the capstan area (instead of plugging again) from each key to start fresh. I was thinking of gluing a piece of maple in there, but then I thought, well, maybe the maple would be too hard for pushing in a capstan and expecting appropriate capstan-turning torque - maybe just strip the threads off the darn thing. Maybe I should use something softer - poplar perhaps? Or maybe I should go with a wood more close in characteristics to the original wood (think it is sugar pine) - I don't have sugar pine, but I think I may be able to find a little piece of Sitka Spruce somewhere around the shop. 
 
Maybe a nice fine grained flat sawn piece of Sitka (I think that is where I am leaning)? Thoughts?
 
Terry FarrellFarrell Piano
 
www.farrellpiano.comterry at farrellpiano.com
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