[CAUT] Bridge pin removal

[Fred Sturm]

Hi all,
    I wonder if anyone has some good advice for removing stubborn bridge
pins. Beyond grabbing them with vice grips, grunting and cursing <g>. I'm
thinking heat, but don't want to cause too much damage to the hole. Would
one heat with a soldering iron, say, 15 seconds (of course depending on
temperature of iron), then let the pin cool before pulling? That's what I am
planning, but thought I'd see if anyone had a better plan.
    BTW, my reason for removing solidly attached pins is to replace with
new, due to zinging sounds. I found one loose enough to pull, and it had the
definite common wear profile, with a sharp feel to the finger. Meaning a
nice bit of metal shaving sitting there. I pulled a few unisons of strings,
dressed the capo, and restrung, and the zings had reduced but not
disappeared. So I'm hoping bridge pins will be the magic cure.
Regards,
Fred Sturm
University of New Mexico