[pianotech] Broken Damper Wire Screw Removal

[Ron Nossaman]

Patrick C. Poulson wrote:
> Hello: I am working on a grand that has glued-in damper flanges, and one 
> of the bass dampers has a wire screw that is broken on flush with the 
> wood. Does anyone have a reliable method for removing the broken stub? I 
> have consider using a small hole cutter to remove the screw and 
> surrounding wook, plugging and then redrilling for a new screw. Has 
> anyone found an alternative?
> Thanks,

I'd try drilling it out in place. Odds are, the screw is 
broken off below flush with the barrel, which should help with 
centering the drill. Plan on replacing the barrel, and likely 
the wire too. If that doesn't work, I'd consider splitting the 
top block. All the options are ugly, and you can't see what 
you're doing back there with any of them, but there are options.
Ron N