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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Marshall connolly asked: "<FONT
face="Times New Roman" size=3>I was called in to assess (and =
hopefully) repair a
broken agraffe in a =<BR>Steinway B at a local college. The =
agraffe
"malfunction" occurred =<BR>during the last tuning, and the tuner =
attempted to
drill out the =<BR>agraffe, but rather than drilling, and using an =
easy-out to
remove the =<BR>broken portion, she and her husband tried to simply =
drill out
the hole =<BR>in the plate.<BR><BR>They drilled with a bit larger than =
the
original agraffe hole, and now =<BR>even the largest of my agraffe =
assortment
isn't large enough to fill the =<BR>hole after retapping. I am =
left
thinking that the only remedy may be to =<BR>retap and have a =
machinist
fabricate an agraffe, as the Steinway =<BR>agraffes simply swim around =
in this
hole. =20<BR><BR>Any recommendations about remedying this problem (shy =
of
replacing the =<BR>plate) would be truly =
appreciated.<BR><BR><BR>Marshall,
</FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><FONT face="Times New Roman" =
size=3>I would suggest
Steel epoxy. I had an "Oopsie" on grand rebuild, many years ago and
inadvertantly "drilled" the agraffe hole on note 88! Yikes! (Cold Sweats =
Time,
fer sur!) I repaired it with Steel epoxy and it's still holding. It is =
not
noticeable, as the "flange" of the agraffe covers the epoxy. I swabbed =
the hole
and taped the underside; placed the agraffe in position and let set for =
two
days. Put the strings on, (while doing heavy praying), chipped to pitch =
and let
it set a few days more just to be sure it would hold. As Skooby Do says: =
"Rotsa
Ruck"!<G></FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV>If that won't work on this situation, then I would suggest the =
"Insta-Coil"
technique.</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><FONT face="Times New Roman" =
size=3>Best
Regards,</FONT><BR></DIV></FONT>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Joe Garrett, R.P.T.<BR>Captain, Tool
Police<BR>Squares R I</FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>