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<DIV><STRONG><FONT face=Arial>Hi Richard,</FONT></STRONG></DIV>
<DIV><STRONG><FONT face=Arial>At 200 cents flat, I don't drop the
pitch.</FONT></STRONG></DIV>
<DIV><STRONG><FONT face=Arial>I used to use 1/2" carriage bolts, but in a
discussion on the list, that was considered overkill. So 3/8" will be good
enough.</FONT></STRONG></DIV>
<DIV><STRONG><FONT face=Arial>We don't have a termite problem up here (Canada),
but I think I would check out the piano further, for a termite
problem.</FONT></STRONG></DIV>
<DIV><STRONG><FONT face=Arial>Someone had brought a piano up from the US, with a
termite problem in the keys. They appeared to have just a little hole, but in
fact had been hollowed out in places. Much more damage than
indicated.</FONT></STRONG></DIV>
<DIV><STRONG><FONT face=Arial>Regards,</FONT></STRONG></DIV>
<DIV>John M. Ross<BR>Windsor, Nova Scotia, Canada<BR><A
href="mailto:jrpiano@win.eastlink.ca">jrpiano@win.eastlink.ca</A></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=rstrang@pa.inter.net href="mailto:rstrang@pa.inter.net">Richard
Strang</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=pianotech@ptg.org
href="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org">'Pianotech'</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Thursday, October 30, 2003 5:50
PM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> RE: Pinblock Separation Repair
& Pitch Change</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Courier New" color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN
class=890354520-30102003>Thanks for the info, Terry. I have to go make that
very repair to a piano shortly and was contemplating whether or not to lower
the pitch first. It this case, the separation is about 1/2" in the
bass and about 1/4" in the treble. Those pesky little termites are in there,
too. I think they are causing the problem. They are not in the pinblock,
though, so the piano is in tune, though 200 cents flat.</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Courier New" color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN
class=890354520-30102003> I was also wondering what size bolts to
use, 1/4", 3/8"? What do you recommend?</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Courier New" color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN
class=890354520-30102003>Thanks.</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Courier New" color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN
class=890354520-30102003></SPAN></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Courier New" color=#0000ff size=2><SPAN
class=890354520-30102003>Richard</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE style="MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV class=OutlookMessageHeader dir=ltr align=left><FONT face=Tahoma
size=2>-----Original Message-----<BR><B>From:</B> pianotech-bounces@ptg.org
[mailto:pianotech-bounces@ptg.org]<B>On Behalf Of
</B>Farrell<BR><B>Sent:</B> Thursday, October 30, 2003 8:09 AM<BR><B>To:</B>
pianotech@ptg.org<BR><B>Subject:</B> Pinblock Separation Repair & Pitch
Change<BR><BR></DIV></FONT>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>Differing opinions regarding the benefit of lowering
pitch prior to drawing a pinblock/backpost separation back together have
been expressed on this list. I am one that generally feels more
comfortable lowering pitch. I thought it might be of benefit to put some
numbers on potential pitch changes. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>Yesterday I did one of these repairs on a late model
(1980s) Baldwin Acrosonic console. It had an approximate 1/4-inch separation
between the pinblock and the backposts and deadwood back assembly. The
separation had been "repaired" in the past with something that appeared to
be silicone bathtub adhesive - surprisingly (?) the separation appeared to
have widened since the application of the silicone. The piano was tuned
at that time (and presumably tuned at standard pitch). </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>Prior to my repair the piano was fairly uniformly 75
cents flat. I dropped the pitch to between 200 and 250 cents flat prior to
any clamping. I yucked in West System epoxy thickened with #403
Microfibers. (A fine fiber blend, is used as a thickening additive with
resin/hardener to create a multi-purpose adhesive, especially for bonding
wood. Epoxy thickened with microfibers has good gap-filling qualities while
retaining excellent wetting/penetrating capability.) I drew the gap
closed slowly going back and forth among the six 3/4" pipe clamps (of which
two got bent pretty good!). The separation appeared to close very close to
100%.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>I then checked pitch again. Piano was fairly uniformly
about 75 cents flat. Therefore, it appears that closing the 1/4-inch gap
resulted in a pitch increase of approximately 150 cents.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>I will be going back to the job on Friday morning to
install a few through bolts, remove clamps, pitch raise and tune. If there
is anyone out there that perhaps has not seen this repair done (or whoever
for whatever reason) wants to see a few photos, I will take them Friday
morning. Let me know.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>Terry
Farrell</FONT></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>