<!doctype html public "-//w3c//dtd html 4.0 transitional//en"> <html>   Farrell wrote:   In a bridge pin hole, two directions have end grain, and hence the general concern. Well, I suppose I could be convinced this creates a problem, but I'd have to see more then whats been layed on the table so far.  On a new bridge, I don't understand why you think it is advantageous to drill a loose-fitting hole for the bridge pin, as opposed to a snug fit - still swabbing the hole with epoxy on the snug fit. I get the feeling here we are taking for granted a difference in pin fit that probably is not so big. Loose pin fit doenst mean wobbley or anything. Being able to just push a pin in with your fingers is not exactly "loose fitting". I put the fit closer to the term snug then I would loose fitting. Point being that swabbing the hole with the epoxy either way yeilds very much the same result. The advantage I see is that I find it easier to push the things in, it avoids completely the potential miss on the drive angle which damages the hole, and I like the extra little bit of knowing the pins are bottoming out in solid material.  Again, just bringing up some thoughts. Some folks do think that a pin will bond into the hole when using epoxy. There have been posts in the past about concerns regarding difficulty of removing bridge pins that have been epoxied into their holes. In a refurbished bridge, I think epoxy is essential to fill voids in a poor pin/hole fit and to fill the eye-corner cracks so common next to bridge pins. On a new bridge I don't know that it is necessary, but it certainly can't hurt anything, and can only serve to fill any small void related to drilling imperfections (on a tight fitting pin), and to strengthen the wood immediately next to the pin as some epoxy will be absorbed into the wood fibers. It seems to me that a standard tight pin/hole pin driven into an epoxy-wabbed hole would be fully advantageous as it has the advantage of traditional direct wood support, some frictional resistance to pin movement and the benefits of epoxy, whereas a loose pin/hole fit would only rely on the epoxy which does have some softness associated with it - its not a brittle super-hard material. Bringing up other thoughts... :)... even tho bonding is not a motivater here, the fact that that is going on would seem to counter the concern about too much being absorbed into the endgrain. And the (extremly) slight degree of softness the epoxy has associated would seem to me to be a plus, in as much as there is no way its going to be so soft to cause any problems, and yet it may help the wood avoid being crushed when the hole shrinks due to climate changes.... certainly cant hurt. Also, I dont really see that any up/down movement of the pin is an issue either way. The side bearing alone should be enough to keep that from happening unless the hole gets reaaaallyy loose. And please, this is discussion - lets discuss apparent or potential advantages/disadvantages - as I am only trying to seek out what appears to be the best method to install a bridge pin. Gee Terry,  I thought thats what we were doing.  :)  Seems to me some of these same points I've mentioned have been echoed by several others as well. Is there something going on I havent picked up on yet ?   Terry Farrell  Cheers RicB -- Richard Brekne RPT, N.P.T.F. UiB, Bergen, Norway <A HREF="mailto:rbrekne@broadpark.no">mailto:rbrekne@broadpark.no</A> <A HREF="http://home.broadpark.no/~rbrekne/ricmain.html">http://home.broadpark.no/~rbrekne/ricmain.html</A> <A HREF="http://www.hf.uib.no/grieg/personer/cv_RB.html">http://www.hf.uib.no/grieg/personer/cv_RB.html</A>  </html>