[pianotech] Pully keys

[Jim Moy]

On Mon, Apr 19, 2010 at 10:54 AM, John Delacour <JD at pianomaker.co.uk> wrote:
> One a few of the keys I have made a 3mm deep saw kerf at the font of the
> hole and inlaid a strip of rosewood.

I fixed a whole set of pulley keys on a Hallet & Davis with a similar
technique.  Seemed to go pretty quickly by the time I had a rhythm
after a dozen or so keys:

Bound three hacksaw blades together, with a bit of space between them;
clamp the key so the hole faced up; cut the groove, overlapping the
oval by some amount; ripped some maple strips to a width that wedged
into the groove; cut them to key-width pieces; cut the groove, glue
and tap in a piece, then go to the next.  When all done, sand the
excess; ease holes onto balance rail pins.

What makes it work is when determining how much to overlap the hole
with the groove, I used a brass pin to wiggle in the hole next to my
blade and "feel" for how much to overlap the hole with the groove.
Turned out nice.

Jim