<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; = charset=us-ascii"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2900.2802" name=GENERATOR></HEAD> <BODY> <DIV>Hmmmmmm, Guy, might our relatively higher humidity affect the effectiveness of the Garfield's?  Houston has "humidity", but it = isn't radical.  But it sure is way above 17%.</DIV> <DIV>les</DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr style="MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px"> <DIV class=OutlookMessageHeader dir=ltr align=left>-----Original Message----- From: = caut-bounces@ptg.org [mailto:caut-bounces@ptg.org]On Behalf Of = Nichols Sent: Monday, December 19, 2005 10:27 PM To: College and = University Technicians Subject: RE: [CAUT] pin block restorer </DIV>Les, Jim, list,    My dad = started me on Garfields 30 years ago. In my dry climate, it actually works better = than CA glue. A 50-50 mix with methanol or denatured alcohol, applied with two = or three passes, using a complete 4oz hypo bottle per block has been = quite successful. The instrument needs to remain horizontal for at least 24 = hours, and wait two weeks before tuning. Many of the pianos I doped over = twenty years ago are still pretty snug. In most cases, only one or two pins may = need to be sized-up. That's 99%.  A thinner solution can be used when = there's not good penetration, and a super-thin solution can even-out the feel of = jumpy blocks. I have never had a block destroyed by the solution, although = we due loose track of customers, or they trade-up, or whatever. At the plant = we've got about a cord of old blocks. I've seen many that had been doped, = and if they are de-laminating, I'm sure they would have done it without the = solution anyway. Penetration does seem to stay near the top, but hey..... = that's where the pin is loose, no?    I believe that history and = climate are very major factors, and that techs from different areas will have = varied success. If I were to advise the world on the use of CA glue, based = totally on how it works at 17% RH, I'd say don't bother. But.... I know how to = deal with it, so I'd say knock yourself out. One way or the other! <G> Regards, Guy Nichols, RPT At 11:34 AM 12/19/2005 -0700, you wrote: <BLOCKQUOTE class=cite cite="" type="cite">Les, List, I don t know if = this was mentioned but past Journal = articles have shown pictures of pinblocks that were doped with different = solutions (not CA glue) and it shows how the solutions generally don t penetrate through the pinblock and have a tendency to destroy the upper one or two laminates. Sometimes within a = couple years. The correct way = (according to the article) to use Garfield type products is to remove about every 15th pin and = fill the holes several times until it is saturated . Before CA glue I did this and it does work. Of course, it takes time, you risk breaking = strings, etc. etc. but IMO the superficial doping of a pinblock is not good at all. In cases where it did work probably you could have spat on it and it would = have done about the same. (Just joking. = No comments on the dangers of saliva, please.) CA glue, as stated in several posts, is far better, and = doesn t seem to destroy the block over time. Jim Busby BYU _____________________________________________ From: caut-bounces@ptg.org [<A = href="mailto:caut-bounces@ptg.org">mailto:caut-bounces@ptg.org</A>]</FO= NT> On Behalf Of Leslie Bartlett Sent: Sunday, December 18, 2005 = 8:18 PM To: caut@ptg.org Subject: [CAUT] pin block restorer I went over 50 miles to this = house to discover this untuneable piano had about 5 really loose pins, and = the rest were just fine!  I neither took my hearing aids nor my Computer = for TuneLab, so ended up pretty much struggling with the tuning, but did = no pinblock work whatsoever.  But thanks for opinons. I'll = certainly keep them for future use, which WILL come about one of these days. thanks les bartlett << File: ATT116372.txt >> </BLOCKQUOTE></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>