Restoring old uprights

[Farrell]

Hi John. The holes on most plates with no bushings are a tad less than 3/8"
and so the plugs are not an option for these plates. The holes in plates
with bushings are usually in the range of 7/16" or 13/32" - too small for
the 1/2" plug but fine for the 3/8" plug. The 1/2" plug is to be used after
plate removal. In the several plug jobs I have done, I have always removed
the plate and therefore always used the 1/2" plugs.

Regarding plugs twisting. I'm sure it is fine to use tite-bond or something
similar. I have a (?irrational?) fear of these kinds of glues that require a
tight fit for good bonding in an application like this. "If the fit is good
and tight - how will I get the glue in there in the first place?" So that I
can sleep at night, I drill the hole a tad big (17/32"), dump in a shot of
West System epoxy (no fillers) and drop the plug in so that it overflows up
the sides. Process goes real fast, you don't even have to cut a slot in the
side of the plug. I leave a little epoxy on top because some of it always
drains into the old block (into cracks, etc. making it a very solid unit I
suspect). The next day I simply grind the top down with a belt sander in 5
or 10 minutes max. Remember, tite-bond REQUIRES a tight fit - epoxy REQUIRES
a small gap.

Also, if I were plugging with the plate on, I would think twice about using
epoxy......as I would be concerned about epoxying the plate to the block!

I just plugged the old square grand I am rebuilding/refurbishing. Not one
single plug was drilled into by the adjacent plug (no overlapping plugs).
How nice - everthing so spread out!

One last thing on plugging. I have always put in a few extra plugs to do
some torque testing on (like maybe even more than a few - like a have a 3 x
3 array of plugs in the square grand - although you could arrange them
in...perhaps...a smiley face). Drill 'em with different size drills and
pound in your pins and test for optimal torque. Especially when you are
buying ready-made plugs (like I have been doing) you never know exactly what
kind of block they were made from, so torque certainly has the potential to
vary from batch to batch. Test plugs are then covered by plate.   :-)
(Won't somebody get a kick out of it when they pull the plate 50 years from
now?)

Just Plugging Along
Terry Farrell

----- Original Message -----
From: "John Ross" <piano.tech@ns.sympatico.ca>
To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: Sunday, August 12, 2001 2:52 PM
Subject: Re: Restoring old uprights


> Hi Charles,
> There is not much give and take to drill the holes off centre.
> The plate is still on, and you drill the hole in the block, through
> the existing hole in the plate. Use the 3/8" for the holes with no
> bushings, and the 1/2" plugs for the ones with bushings, which
> you remove.
> Cut a slot in the plug, to allow the plug to bottom, instead of trying
> to compress the trapped glue or epoxy.
> Also drilling off centre, would not retard the plug from rotating, as the
> amount would be minimal.
> Regards
> John M. Ross
> Windsor, Nova Scotia, Canada
> piano.tech@ns.sympatico.ca
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Charles Neuman" <piano@charlesneuman.net>
> To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
> Sent: Sunday, August 12, 2001 3:30 PM
> Subject: Re: Restoring old uprights
>
>
> > Newton wrote:
> > > One is to drill a large hole into the block
> > > and replace the removed material with pin block plugs and redrill.
> Great
> > care
> > > needs to be taken to assure that the plugs are well and truly glued
into
> > place
> > > and that they will never (nearly) rotate.
> >
> > I wonder if you drill the holes for the plugs so that they are off
center
> > from the hole where the pins were and will be. That way, the plug would
be
> > restricted from rotatating. That would involve somehow "remembering"
where
> > the original tuning pin holes were. Maybe you could make an outline of
> where
> > all the pins are, drill the plug holes off-center and then use the
outline
> > to drill the new holes.
> >
> > I might be way off here. I don't really know anything about drilling a
pin
> > block. I'm still near the beginning of the Potter course! Give me some
> > time...
> >
> > Charles Neuman
> > PTG Assoc.
> > Nassau County, NY
> >
> >
> >
>
>