>Gulbransen Upright circa 1922. Front rail and balance rail pins are fairly >rusty. Is there a quick way to clean them, kind of in the same way as >the tuning pin cleaner thingees you put on the end of a drill? I assume >those would be a bit too large for this job? I hope there is a faster >alternative to cleaning them INDIVIDUALLY, by hand! Customer is at his >monetary limit for repairs to the action, so replacing them is NOT an option. >Thanks for your wisdom. > > >Terry Peterson Isaac's right. Replace them and just eat the job if it isn't being paid for. You'll very possibly spend more time doing a poor job of cleaning than you would replacing them. A slide hammer works quite well to get them out. As far as enlarging the holes (other Terry), you can't expect to pull a 2/0 tuning pin and replace it with 2/0, so how can you expect to pull a rusty old key pin and get a nice drive fit when you replace it with a new one that likely isn't exactly the same size anyway? Just whack the suckers out with reasonable care, sand the rail, and shim and glue size the holes as (if) necessary for the replacements. Complications are == non-"standard" sizes, and/or center rail pins so wooly that you destroy the key balance hole and bushing getting the key off of the pin. I'd say if you are bushing the keys and making necessary repairs, replace the pins and do what is necessary to make it work. If you aren't bushing the keys, leave them alone - rust and all. Ron N
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