barre46@ibm.net wrote: > Hi Del, > > It does seem however that the reamers you had made are quite expensive. My question is, > do you think that the straight reamers available from Steinway are not good enough for > this procedure or were they not available when you got yours? > > Norman Barrett > Memphis, TN ------------------------------------------------------------ Norm, Yes, they were expensive. But they worked well and they worked fast. And I was doing a whole lot of work with them. We had to rebush and repin most of the action centers of most of the pianos that came in. The factory pinning was somewhat less than usable. I'd often simply remove all of the hammershank flanges from the rail, replace that ridiculous pre-gummed felt-like material and work my way straight through. After a while I didn't even bother to check them -- it was a waste of time. I'd just automatically start pinning. But when done right the bushings worked and they worked well. I have no idea what Steinway currently furnishes in the way of reamers. I've never used them nor seen them. They were not available when I got mine. At the time Steinway was still recommending the rolled center pin as a reamer. And that simply did not work so I went elsewhere. You'll have to check with someone with much more up-to-date information than I have about whatever Steinway currently furnishes. I'll simply say that you need is a straight flute -- i.e., not tapered -- reamer with four or more cutting edges. The odd number of flutes chattered less than the even number. And the reverse spiral cut more cleanly than did the straight flute. Single-flute, spoon-bit reamers didn't work all that well either. Been their, done that. I should have mentioned that the reamer was twirled -- rotated -- as it was pushed into the hole in the bushing. It did its cutting as it was entering the bushing. It didn't work very well to push the reamer into the bushing hole and then starting to turn, or rotate, it. Regards, Del
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