[pianotech] English Overdamper piano pinblocks

[Ron Nossaman]

On 11/4/2012 7:44 PM, Dean May wrote:
> I've never seen a pinblock that didn't have at least a couple of
> laminations. But the cross section of piano I see in rural Indiana is
> admittedly pretty limited.

Mine too. Sounds to me that this one is a garden gnome that just hasn't 
been moved outside yet. I'd say leave it alone if the pins aren't loose, 
but if it were going to be glued...


> But I do have a fair amount of experience with the CA. I'll stand by the
> recommendation: CA first to deep penetrate, then epoxy to fill the gaps.
> Knowing there are no laminations makes it even more important, IMHO, to use
> the CA, so it will soak and support the inadequate construction. Epoxy just
> will not go into the cellular structure of the wood like CA will, unless you
> thin it first, then you lose strength as you know. Epoxy bonds surface to
> surface.

I've had a fair amount of experience with both epoxy and CA, and I 
disagree with this big time. The CA won't do anything useful except soak 
in, and it will prevent the epoxy from doing any good as a result, by 
leaving it nothing to stick to. Epoxy by itself will penetrate to the 
bottom of the crack, and into the surrounding wood plenty good enough to 
make a first rate bond if the wood isn't already contaminated with CA.
Ron N