<html><head></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; ">Like Isaac says, the most Steinway agraffe breakage I have seen were on Pianos made in the earlier 1900's. I have also run into breakage on later models built in the1970's, 80's, and 90's (one each).<br><div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-size: medium; "><div><br><blockquote type="cite"><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><div><span style="letter-spacing: 0px; "><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 20px/normal 'Book Antiqua'; color: rgb(34, 58, 168); "><span style="font: normal normal normal 20px/normal 'Corsiva Hebrew'; "><b> </b></span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px; ">Tom Gorley</span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Kokonor; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0px; "><font class="Apple-style-span" color="#910f08">Registered Piano Technician </font></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 14px/normal 'Book Antiqua'; color: rgb(62, 0, 147); "><span><b> </b></span></div></span></div></div></blockquote></div><div><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><div><span style="letter-spacing: 0px; "><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 14px/normal 'Book Antiqua'; color: rgb(62, 0, 147); "><span style="letter-spacing: 0px; "><br></span></div></span></div></div></div><div><br></div></span><br class="Apple-interchange-newline">
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<br><div><div>On Jan 23, 2012, at 7:59 PM, Isaac Sadigursky wrote:</div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><blockquote type="cite"><div>Hi, Ron!<br>Steinways with serial numbers #350,000 through 265,000 are notorious for that problem;The stem was NOT Threaded to the end and Agraffe Installers Over-stressed them during installation process.<br>Another Notable problem in modern pianos;<br>On many Asian pianos Agraffe Holes are NOT Drilled all the way through the plate and they are Over-stressed.<br>Just did a 'Root-Canal" on a Hyundai,about 8 years old..<br>Hope,this information helps..<br>On most pianos the only tool I use is modified screwdriver in shape of a 'V" or 'Fish Tale'.<br>It "bites" into the broken piece and makes removal easy,because it grabs 2 points.<br>Nothing new in this department.<br>Greetings from rainy Southern California<br>Isaac Sadigursky, RPT<br>Los Angeles Chapter<br><br><br>On Jan 23, 2012, at 9:43 AM, Ron Nossaman wrote:<br><br><blockquote type="cite">On 1/23/2012 10:40 AM, Wally Scherer wrote:<br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite">It seems that Steinways are notable for this problem. (WHY?)<br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite">The agraffes that break have a flat bottomed shoulder and the stud isn't threaded all the way up to the shoulder. When these were installed, the stud ran out of thread before the shoulder seated, so they just cranked them on down in spite of it. This over stressed the stud. When they did bottom out, the flat bottomed shoulder wasn't crushable like the concave shoulders in the supply house agraffes we get now. So when they cranked them even harder to align them it stressed the stud even more.<br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite">When they eventually break, the stud threads are still jammed into the plate threads, making the broken stud hard to get out.<br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite">That's pretty much it.<br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite">Ron N<br></blockquote><br></div></blockquote></div><br></body></html>