Plugging capstan holes

[Erwinspiano@aol.com]

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      David
   Thanks for th 2cents
 & very impressive repair visually as well as strength. Does this job go 
quickly & is the process fairly unmessy?I dislike epoxies in general because of 
messy factor & the smell but it is a great tool in the right applications & this 
appears to be one of those.
   Dale---------- Regards
To Phil & all,

Just wanted to add my 2 cents worth.

I'm all for epoxy filling of capstan and key lead holes...  For Capstans we
use the 410 microlite filler but instead of West Epoxy we much prefer Epoxy
#301 from Epotek.  This is the lowest viscosity epoxy I've found (it's used
for gluing optics....)  We mix in the #410 so you can just pour into a
syringe.  It seems to handle better with less chance for voids than the
West epoxy and it doesn't smell as bad.  

For situations when the new capstan hole is partly in the old hole, the
epoxy fill has a similar density to spruce or pine so the drill won't tend
to skew as it would if you use a hammer shank plug.

BUT! If the capstan is mounted in a hardwood shoe then the epoxy fill won't
work to well... When you drill and drive, the hole and capstan will skew
towards the softer epoxy and you will loose your positioning.  In this case
we fill the bottom of the hole with the epoxy then drill out the shoe
portion and plug with a cross grain wood such as the shoe is made of,
usually beech...  a 1/4" plug cutter is easily found for making the plugs...

For key lead holes when using the West or Epotek #301 with #410 filler, the
epoxy tends to bleed into the surface of the key next to the hole which is
unsightly.  For key lead holes we use an epoxy putty which has a similar
density as spruce... The are a number of these on the market.. The one we
use is made by Abatron. You can add aniline dye to the mix to match the
color to the key....  The Abatron putty is light and very tough.  It
adheres very well and I'm sure the key is stronger for using it instead of
wood plugs...

Here's a picture:

http://www.stanwoodpiano.com/woodepoxplug.jpg

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