The first PTG convention I went to was in Cleveland, I believe it was 1972. The last class period of the convention I took Cliff Gears class on pin block drilling. At the end of the class Cliff had some pieces of Falcon wood pin blocks he had been using for the class. He gave me a piece about 1 foot square. I took it home and drilled 8 holes such that the pin torque was between 5 and 10 inch pounds. I then treated the block with several different treatments. Unfortunately I have lost the paper where I wrote down what was in which hole and my early results. As best as I remember I use water, 50% glycerin-50% alcohol, a drop of water followed a couple of minutes later with the glycerin-alcohol mix, Lunsford's Pin-tite, some red stuff I think was Garfields, maybe something else, and 1 hole untreated. As best as I remember I say no improvement for several days and concluded that pin dope would not work on Falcon wood. About 6 months later I noticed the block and tried it. There was a marked improvement on some of the pins. I think I saw some torques of 30 to 40 inch pounds. I believe the water followed by the glycerin-alcohol mix was the best. Over the years I have put a tunning hammer on it several time and have felt a difference in the torque between different pins. I have not kept records of what the numbers were. The evening of 12 May 1999 I took torque readings: (pin number- inch pounds torque) 1-7.5, 2-10, 3-11, 4-3, 5-7.5, 6-9, 7-5, 8-2. I then put a bead of thin Hot Stuff CA glue around each pin. The morning of 13 May 1999 I took torque readings (pin number-inch pounds torque to break pin loose-inch pounds torque to turn pin after moving the pin a couple of times). 1-30-20, 2-20-15, 3-20-17, 4-25-15, 5-50-20, 6-40-20, 7-70-20, 8-20-10. Tried them again this morning 15 May 1999 and got the following results (pin number- inch pounds torque) 1-20, 2-12, 3-12, 4-12, 5-15, 6-15, 7-17, 8-7. I will try these again in a couple of weeks and them may try another treatment of CA glue. I will try to keep this list informed of the out come. John A. Dewey
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