<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.6000.16608" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Terry,</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Report back on this please, I've done at least a dozen sets over the last year or 2 and keep wondering about a better way. I use a 1/4" splined hardwood dowel for convenience more than anything. It works pretty well. Actually it worked not bad on a set of Kawai keys recently that had a 3/8" hardwood cap for the capstan. What I've been looking for is a good 1/4" plug cutter. I've got good cutters but they start at 3/8 which is too big. I would think, pull out the newly installed caps, re-plug with poplar and your good to go. Or, after you re-plug, route for a 3/8 cap of something like poplar with grain running fore and aft, I do a good counter sink on the holes. Carry on, Buana.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Fenton</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=mfarrel2@tampabay.rr.com href="mailto:mfarrel2@tampabay.rr.com">Farrell</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=pianotech@ptg.org href="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org">pianotech@ptg.org</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Monday, February 25, 2008 7:29 AM</DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Wood Specie Insert for Capstan</DIV> <DIV><BR></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial>I moved a capstan line on a set of key and had lousy results. I plugged the original holes with el-cheepo 2x4 spruce from the local home improvement store. The wood had super-wide grain and the material between winter wood was like styrofoam. When I pressed the capstans in place, many wandered because of the harder original wood and the new spruce on some completely collapsed - really weird - but the end result is a wandering capstan line - just won't do.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial>So, I'm in the process of routing a 3/4" wide section out of the capstan area (instead of plugging again) from each key to start fresh. I was thinking of gluing a piece of maple in there, but then I thought, well, maybe the maple would be too hard for pushing in a capstan and expecting appropriate capstan-turning torque - maybe just strip the threads off the darn thing. Maybe I should use something softer - poplar perhaps? Or maybe I should go with a wood more close in characteristics to the original wood (think it is sugar pine) - I don't have sugar pine, but I think I may be able to find a little piece of Sitka Spruce somewhere around the shop. </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial>Maybe a nice fine grained flat sawn piece of Sitka (I think that is where I am leaning)? Thoughts?</FONT><FONT face=Arial size=3></DIV></FONT> <DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial>Terry Farrell<BR>Farrell Piano</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial><A href="http://www.farrellpiano.com">www.farrellpiano.com</A><BR><A href="mailto:terry@farrellpiano.com">terry@farrellpiano.com</A></FONT></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>