<HTML>Sorry, I didn't make it clear that the strings were already out.  I had planned to replace the bridge pins as they didn't have that nice shiny new look.  When I pulled them, most by hand, the bottom part buried in the wood looked new and had a nice rounded end, instead of the pointy end. So I just inverted them, swabbed the hole and pin with thinned out hot hide glue and tapped them back in.  Turns out the bridge was also drilled to a consistent depth, so they all appear nice and level without grinding. You are right about the residue.  There is a small cuff at the top of the bridge around each pin.  I was able to remove the glue softened by heating each pin with a regulated soldering iron using a bamboo skewer sharpened appropriately. If this is a bad idea, I could have those pins out in an hour, then redrill and install oversize pins.  Cost/time is not a significant factor since this is a piano I acquired for the express purpose of disassembling everything that can be, replacing anything that needs to be and restoring it to a piano again as a learning experience.  It will be a couple of weeks, at least, before I get serious about  restringing. Loren Hedahl Hi Loren(THIN)  <FRESH>   CA,  wicks almost totally into the wood and arround the pin leaving almost no trace that CA has been used. This can be done without removing the pins or lowering the string tension. Tuning usually goes a little sharp ( about 5 to ten cents ) but is manageable. I like to do this at or very near tuned pitch or after a pitch raise that has shown the problem area.Epoxy with heat sometimes still leaves residue that needs to be cleaned up. The added heat truly changes the tuning a bunch.Hot hide glue, wont that require pulling the pins? And all the extra tuning that goes with that?Bottom line the work involved. I'm sort of lazy <g>Joe Goss RPTMother Goose Tools</HTML>