[CAUT] Broken agraffe

[Horace Greeley]

Hi,

I'll second Don's suggestions; and add that, if it turns out that you 
need a long "aircraft"-type drill, you'll either need to live in an 
area that still has something of a machine-tool industry going, or 
plan on ordering from an on-line catalog.  Because there is still 
some of that industry left in the SF Bay area, we have a local 
Grainger supply house.  If you live where there isn't much of that 
kind of thing, Grainger's on-line catalog is pretty decent and their 
on-line support staff have been _exceptionally_ helpful.  Here's a 
link to their main web page:

http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/wwg/start.shtml

Best.

Horace


At 12:43 PM 9/15/2010, Don Mannino wrote:
>Jeff,
>
>The "fish tail" screwdriver method is under-used.  It really does 
>work in many cases.  I have also done a similar thing using a small 
>cutoff wheel in a Dremel to cut a positive slot in the agraffe stem, 
>then use a blade screwdriver to turn it out.  This is a problem if 
>the stem is too deep in the plate, of course.
>
>As others said, long drill bits can work.  If it's jammed and you 
>need a reverse drill bit that could be a problem getting a long one.
>
>I have also drilled up from the bottom with a right-angle drill.  No 
>need to use a reverse drill - if the agraffe breaks loose it will 
>spin up nicely.  Getting yourself aligned properly is tricky, but 
>doing a careful center punch and using good lights and a mirror on 
>the keybed will help a lot.
>
>Don Mannino
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: caut-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:caut-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf 
>Of Jeff Farris
>Sent: Wednesday, September 15, 2010 11:06 AM
>To: caut at ptg.org
>Cc: Steve Walthall; tseay2 at austin.rr.com
>Subject: [CAUT] Broken agraffe
>
>Has anyone had to remove a broken agraffe right next to the plate 
>strut where a drill can't fit? Any good ideas?
>
>Thanks,
>Jeff
>
>Jeff Farris
>Piano Technician
>School of Music
>UT Austin
>jfarris at mail.utexas.edu
>512-471-0158
>
>
>
>
>
>Sent from my iPhone
>
>------ End of Forwarded Message
>
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