Aaaaarrrrrgh, Part Deux

[paul bruesch]

Could someone to tease out Mike's statement about driving the pins in,
assuming sufficient room/hole depth? The only commentary on that suggestion
is that it's the old way.

If ( !! IF !! ) the pins are insufficiently driven down, doesn't it make
more sense to drive them in to a position where they are less susceptible to
unnecessary twisting and bending? Wouldn't it be BETTER for the block not to
have that excess lever-arm length working the string-side edge of the hole?

Paul Bruesch
Stillwater, MN

On 9/26/07, Alan Barnard <pianotuner at embarqmail.com > wrote:
>
>  A recent post said: "... I wouldn't ruin a perfectly good block by using
> CA as a stopgap method in a piano this new, I would recommend re-stringing
> with oversize saving the church the cost of a new block. No it isn't the
> greatest piano ever made but to ruin the block with CA because the tech has
> no foresight is negligent!"
>
> I mean nothing personal, here, but this is going to leave impressionable
> newbie minds with a wrong, wrong picture. The belief that CA does harm to
> the block is pure bullfeathers, twaddle, and poppycock and is, in mine umble
> opinion, based on misinformation, lack of experience, or outright
> superciliousness. CA in no way "ruins" a pinblock. If you want to restring
> with larger pins, go for it: but it's a might expensive repair compared to 2
> oz of CA. And if you start with the CA and later desire to put in larger
> pins or whatever, the option is still there and the previous use of the
> chemical will in no wise be a problem.
>
> As to CA not working well in a dry climate, why would it not? It's not
> "dope" that depends on pulling in ambient moisture, it is a permanent (or
> seemingly) replacement of the missing wood fibres. You may have to generate
> a little humidity around the piano while it cures.
>
> And what's this nonsense about CA being a "stopgap method"? We now have
> years of experience in a variety of climates and all kinds of pianos that is
> wholly persuasive: CA is an effective, inexpensive, *long-term* fix. There
> are occasional, anecdotal reports where it didn't work; in such cases, I
> suspect delamination and/or cracking or really, totally shot blocks in the
> first place.
>
> Others! Feel free to share your thoughts. I'm reeeeeeaally not picking a
> fight with the person I quote above, I just think these notions are flat
> wrong and I don't want techs out there condemning otherwise perfectly(?)
> good pianos or engaging in heroic, expensive efforts to save them--when an
> hour with tilter and glue bottle can save the day, the piano, and the
> customer.
>
> I still feel bad about the woman who trashed her magnificent 1890
> piano--one of the most beautiful cases I have ever seen--because she wasn't
> enough of a player and hadn't the money to "restore" the pinblock. Her
> husband chopped it up and threw it away because I, little old ignorant me,
> told her the block was shot and the repairs would cost such and such much.
> This was about a month before I first heard of the CA fix. I think it's a
> miracle-cure, frankly; akin to the discovery of penicillin!
>
> Alan Barnard
> Salem, MO
>
> P.S. The "tech has no foresight" if he/she uses CA? What the h-e-double-l
> does *that* mean?
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: https://www.moypiano.com/ptg/pianotech.php/attachments/20070926/d373e91e/attachment.html