<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1" = http-equiv=Content-Type> <META content="MSHTML 5.00.2614.3500" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Wim</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2> I may be a little late on this = reply but you may have some luck heating the rail several minutes with an alcohol = flame, or similar. The dowel will shrink some and the rail will expand some. Be = careful of the solder joints. Rig a jig to hold them in place. I wish I could lay = claim to this idea, but I read it somewhere. Did you try the = archives?</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Paul Chick</FONT></DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE style="BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-RIGHT: = 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px"> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV> <DIV style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: = black"><B>From:</B> <A href="mailto:Wimblees@AOL.COM" = title=Wimblees@AOL.COM>Wimblees@AOL.COM</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A = href="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org" title=pianotech@ptg.org>pianotech@ptg.org</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Sunday, August 26, 2001 = 2:35 PM</DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: Steinway Rail = Dowels</DIV> <DIV><BR></DIV><FONT color=#000000 face=Arial lang=0 size=2 FAMILY="SANSSERIF"><BR><BR>The idea of replacing the dowel seems = like the way to go. Between you, <BR>Patrick, and Newton, it doesn't seem like an impossible task. <BR><BR>I had thought of using the Nu Wood. I have = used it before to repair cracks, <BR>and glue pieces of wood together. I was = reluctant to use it to plug screw <BR>holes, however. I am not sure it the epoxy = is strong enough to accept a <BR>screw. Have you done this successfully? <BR><BR>Wim </FONT></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>