A great repair for stripped screws in general is a shim of hard shoe leather and a bit of CA glue pushed into the hole along one side or both sides...Always works! David I. *********** REPLY SEPARATOR *********** On 10/22/01 at 9:45 PM John Delacour wrote: >At 13:38 22/10/01 -0400, A440A@AOL.COM wrote: > >> I assume by "open" you mean split or shattered. Yes, this is quite >>common. It seems that on Steinways built between the beginning and 1930 >>Hammer rails would often split along the corners. I expected it was from >the >>stress of hammer screws compressing the rails onto ever shrinking dowels. >>However, I have also seen a lot that were cracked at the bottom, so my >logic >>is suspect here.... > >The most common cause of split rails in my experience is ham-fisted >tuner-repairers. First they overturn the screws and order the next size >up, which they screw into the old holes. Next they overturn these and >meanwhile the flange is getting more and more squashed. The final >solution >is to enlarge the flange holes and use the next screw size up. These must >be tightened with two hands to make sure the flange gets even more >squashed >and the point of the screw presses hard against the bottom of the brass >rail. > >It may be that swelling of the maple dowel alone can cause split rails but >I'd say incompetent workmen account for most of them. > >JD
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