upright pinblock replacement.

[Delwin D Fandrich]

Andy&Chris Taylor wrote:

> . . . . Now comes the drilling of the tuning pins. I constructed a "shelf"
> above the
> top of the piano, and give it a 7 Degree angle. there is enough room for the
> base of the drill press to rest below the top. Now I drilled the pins,
> taking it very slowly because if the bit ever became hot, There would be a
> loose tuning pin after all that work!
>
> Did it work? well I am not sure yet. I still have to shim and refinish the
> soundboard. Once that is done, On the final installation of the plate, I
> intend to put a small amount of epoxy on the flange to make sure I will get
> firm contact. the piano should be better than new, because there is almost
> double the pinblock area that originally.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Two questions for you or anyone else who would like to comment.

1)    Why the 7º angle on the tuning pins?  I've encountered quite a few pianos
using pin angles such as this (it's the way I was taught, as well) and have
found that the string tends to "walk" down the pins as they are turned during
tuning.

2)    Has anyone else taken an upright piano apart that has had a pinblock
"insert" installed and found that the insert had come loose and was basically
floating within the cavity routed for it?

Del