<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML style="FONT-SIZE: medium; FONT-FAMILY: AGaramond Bold"><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2800.1528" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Thanks for the info on the tumbler. A reason for putting used agraffes back in order is that the beveled seat is already partially crushed. With new agraffes you can do quite a bit of aligning. Once they've been on there is not as much freedom to align them. A problem I've found with new ones is the height. Raising (usually) the string height in the agraffe section a mm or 2. A counter bore like Pianotech sells solves this problem but gets rid of the bevel. Not good IMO. I re-ground one  to match the bevel.</FONT></DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px"> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV> <DIV style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B> <A title=absolutepiano@comcast.net href="mailto:absolutepiano@comcast.net">Absolute Piano</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=pianotech@ptg.org href="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org">Pianotech List</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Tuesday, April 04, 2006 12:32 PM</DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: Agraffes-Jude's reply</DIV> <DIV><BR></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Sorry for the late response. Some days I get so caught up in the shop I don't get to catch up with all the interesting stuff going on here. Anyway... </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>Jude,</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>Regarding the tumbler, I guess it's safe to say you are not keeping them in order, or are you?</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>Fenton</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I've been back and forth as far as the order is concerned. When I first started restoring agraffes I kept them in order, but when I started using the tumbler I abandoned the order figuring that when I installed new ones they were out of order anyway. I might try thraeding them in order on a wier and then tumbling.  If the effort to keep order doesn't take more time than working from scratch, it'll be worth it.</DIV> <DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#0000ff>Jude,</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#0000ff>I've never heard of Dri-Shine. What is it? where do you get it? ect.?</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#0000ff>As for the "Tumbler"....Yikes! Not a good way to go, IMO. That will screw up the threads.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#0000ff>Joe Garrett, R.P.T. (Oregon)</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I love your process Joe. I'll have to give it a try. Dri-shine III is the most mild medium available for the tumbler and it is made of corn husks. I'm pretty sure that it causes no damage to the threads. In fact I have to prep the agraffes in the blasting cabinet first because the tumbler will not even remove lacquer and it takes 70 hours in the tumbler to reach a mirror polish.  If I find proof that it does I will abondon this method of polishing agraffe and probably cry.The great thing about the tumbler is that it cleans every part of every screw, hinge etc even inside the slots, threads and holes. I gather all my hardware and toss it in and forget about it for three days and that beats the hours I've spent at the buffing wheel. I ordered it through MSC but I have a catalog for the actual maker if you're intrigued.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#0000ff>Bechstein's are fun, aren't they, with the thick agraffes up in the treble?</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#0000ff>Paul</FONT> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Oh yeah, they're a treat! What a great agraffe though with that hardened steel rod. I found that you have to go in order and get them perfectly installed before you move on to the next one. I also had much more difficulty getting them locked down in the right position. I definitely should have kept this set in order and with the original shims which are thinner than anything available through Scaff or Pianotek.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>By the way are there any other options for new agraffes for other makes. If you're going to mess around with this you're eventually gonna be caught with a broken agraffe. I broke one on a Knabe last year and boy was that a pain.  I went fishing through piano junkyards all over town pulling off samples. Most of these pianos were on on their sides, crunched together. Fun. There are may variations of threads, height and unison spacing.<BR></DIV></DIV></FONT> <DIV>Jude Reveley, RPT<BR>Absolute Piano Restoration, LLC<BR>Boston, Massachusetts</DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px"> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=4></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>