John, William, Dean, I agree. I have done about 8 pianos with 100% success. I would like to add one new trick I've done on my last two pianos. Use a 3 ml hypodermic syringe with a size 21 or 23 needle. Advantages, you can get the exact amount on each pin and the needle will get the glue right at the base of the tuning pin with no spillage or mess. Absolutely no tell tale signs that it has been used, except if the piano has tuning pin bushings. Al From: Dean May Sent: Wednesday, January 28, 2009 2:32 PM To: pianotech at ptg.org Subject: Re: [pianotech] Best Way To Fix Loose Pins? It's always great to hear feedback that one of your tips is making someone else money! J I charge about 2.5 times my tuning rate and give it an 8 year warranty. I tell people I don't know how long it will last, but I've never had one fail in the 10 years I've been doing it and I guarantee it for 8 years. When they compare that to the thousands they know it'll cost for the rebuild they are usually pretty happy to spend it. I am selling the value added service, the warranty, which gives them peace of mind that this is a reasonably long fix that gives them time to amass money for the more expensive repair at a later date. In other words, the warranty is what they are paying for, not the actual 20 minutes of time and $10 worth of glue. There is not much downside to offering the warranty. You can almost always nurse a piano for 8 years with a variety of tricks. Worst case scenario, refund the money. You could even legitimately pro-rate the refund based on how many years the pins did hold. I have had a couple of CA'd pianos recently that I did some time ago show up with flakey pins. I gave them a few more drops of CA while working the pin back and forth with the hammer and they tightened up very nicely. I've also pulled problematic pins in the past to squirt 4-5 drops directly into the hole, reinsert the pin, and voila, it works. I've never had that remedy not work. I used to use the accelerator, but have since become convinced it works better without. Dean Dean May cell 812.239.3359 PianoRebuilders.com 812.235.5272 Terre Haute IN 47802 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of paul bruesch Sent: Wednesday, January 28, 2009 12:30 PM To: pianotech at ptg.org Subject: Re: [pianotech] Best Way To Fix Loose Pins? As has already been mentioned a number of times, CA. I used Dean's instructions (which he resent to this thread) and have had great success with the few pianos I've done. I charge $100, money back if it doesn't work. Others on the list charge differently... and I believe someone guarantees it for some length of time... I forget who or how long. I carry a 1-ounce bottle with me for those pianos that have onesy-twosy loose pins. When I have to remove screws to remove case parts to tune the thing, and the screws are sloppy-loose, I put a few drops in those holes too. By time I put the screws back on after tuning, nice 'n snug! I keep all my glues and liquids in plastic containers that stand up in my case so they stay upright -- 'cuz I don't want to glue my case to my car... Paul Bruesch Stillwater, MN On Wed, Jan 28, 2009 at 9:50 AM, Greg Livingston <pianotuner440 at hotmail.com> wrote: I'm asking this of my more experienced colleagues. A good customer and friend has a '30s Mason & Hamlin grand with a few really loose pins. At this time, she can't consider an overhaul, so what would be the best plan for me? -bigger pins? (wouldn't that spread cracks wider?) -bang the pins in deeper? (only adds a little more grabbing area) -sandpaper sleeve? (the least invasive, I think) -CA? (don't like it, since I spilled it once and glued my toolbox to the floor of my car; besides, I never liked Pintite) Your advice is gratefully appreciated. ___________________________________________________ Gregory P. Livingston, Piano Tuning and Service 781-237-9178 Piano Technicians Guild, associate member (Boston chapter) * * * Always remember September 11, 2001 * * * ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Windows LiveT Hotmail®:.more than just e-mail. Check it out. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/pianotech_ptg.org/attachments/20090128/ecf15a62/attachment-0001.html>
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