Although I now use maple pinblocks, for years I used falconwood and rarely had a problem with it. The key, as stated in other messages, is to be very consistent. Falconwood is unforgiving material. I always drilled using a bit .010 under the pin size. I tried for a drill speed of around 750 RPM and kept the feed rate to a speed where the chips would just clear the bit as I was drilling. We used a drill bit with special fluting (sharpened, polished, and steeper which has a special name that I have forgotten). It ejected the chips faster than standard high speed drill bits, allowing us a faster feed rate. The feed rate is critical and again consistency is essential. It would be ideal to use an automatic feed drill press with an adjustable feed rate. We used a stream of compressed air to cool the bit which also helps keep chips clear of the work. If used carefully falconwood is great, but it never felt quite as good as maple. It is nice to have a choice again. Scott E. Thile, RPT Piano-Instrument Technician Department of Music,Murray State University ------------------------------------------------------------------ P.O. Box 9, Murray, KY 42071, Ph: 502-762-4396 Email: sethile@msumusik.mursuky.edu
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