Vienese pinblock repair

[ed440 at mindspring.com]

The cracks I can see on the top make me wonder if there is a structural failure in the pinblock.
If this is so, there is probably no cheap fix.  In fact, it looks like you are following up on the first cheap fix.

I am also wondering if your customer expects you to re-arrange the laws of physics so that he can make the profit he requires.  I don't do well with customers like that.

Ed Sutton

-----Original Message-----
>From: John Tonyan <tonyanj at hotmail.com>
>Sent: Aug 16, 2006 4:13 PM
>To: pianotech at ptg.org
>Subject: Vienese pinblock repair
>
>I was asked to repair an open-faced pinblock on an old Produktiv 
>Genossenchaft Grand which was restrung and is giving way in the upper 
>section. The wood is being crushed and the tuning pin holes are elongated 
>(see attachments).
>
>The client is selling the piano and wants to invest as little as necessary 
>to make it a sound, antique instrument. The piano is not local however and I 
>am concerned about the time and equipment needed to do a satisfactory job.
>
>My first thought was to epoxy the whole thing and then drill out new holes. 
>I could conceivably do this without major machinery, but would certainly 
>require a day for the epoxy to cure.
>
>I then saw a plugging job, nicely done, but I don’t know if it could be 
>accomplished any faster and it seems that it would demand a portable drill 
>press with a creative mounting method.
>
>If I follow the epoxy method, one question is:
>	How much smaller than the tuning pins should the drill be?
>	(Will it be different from an all-wood pinblock?)
>
>If I plug, there are many items:
>	Plug cutter (source) and size of drill for installation
>	Drilling pattern
>	Set-up time for glued plugs
>	Time
>
>I can’t think of any thing else to add right now.
>
>Thanks,
>John
>