In a message dated 3/8/99 3:34:08 PM Central Standard Time, lawsonic@global.co.za writes: << I did it for the hell of it: I took out the pin and with my little 3gm tube smeared the pin with the glue, let it dry then tapped it back in and it was surprising tight. Main question - is technique correct? Yes or No answers in lines of 20 or less please. >> It's not exactly what I would have done for this. It appears that you "sized" the pin which may have worked but read further and you'll see how the same glue can work much better and provide guaranteed consistency. Pull the pin out and use medium or thick viscosity professional grade CA glue to apply both in the hole and sparingly on the threads of the pin. Drive back in immediately using no accelerator. The pin will still feel loose for the first few minutes but will seize up dramatically in a few more. You will most likely experience what seems to be a perfectly normal and very tight pin afterwards. There are other techniques where very thin CA glue is used as a tuning pin "dope" and combined with driving the pin further. This is usually effective. But in this case, your pin was all the way in and still too loose to control. The above method has worked for me in every case I have tried it and now replaces my former method of using 5-minute Epoxy in the same way. I believe that CA glue might be expected to work a little better than Epoxy because of it's ability to *combine* with, not just stick to other substances. Thus, it fuses together all the rust, dirt and deteriorated wood from the pinblock and really creates some amazing friction which is consistent and therefore does not leave the pin feeling jumpy. While standard methods of using an oversize pin and other techniques for repairing the hole are still completely valid and I'm sure some feel they are preferable, this method is certainly a great alternative for old uprights and lesser quality grands, consoles and spinets. It could also be considered a "conservative" or noninvasive way of repairing an antique or museum type piano. If it is carefully done, there will be no evidence of the repair afterwards and the same pin, not a bright and shiny new one will be there, thus preserving the overall appearance. Bill Bremmer RPT Madison, Wisconsin
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