Andy Taylor wrote, "What I thought about doing is to drill all the pin
holes out, to a larger size, and all the same size.  Then, using a plug
cutter, cut and curl out some plugs out of thick pinblock material."

This is not a new idea -- it is done all over the country by many
quality tuners.  Cliff Geers, in Cleves OH, who sells soundboards,
panels and ribs, also sells Delignit pinblock plugs.  They are the
perfect size for gluing into place and redrilling.  You can call him
and get some.  Don't ever purchase any soundboards from him as, since
his son took over, none of his soundboards ever hold a crown longer
than 6 months.  (I have experience with three of them.)  However, if
you make your own soundboard, he sells panels and ribs that are just
fine.

There is no need to use synthetic material as is in epoxy.  Just use
plain hot glue or cabinet glue.  The plugs drive into the holes rather
firmly and cannot move once the plate is in place.

Quite often these plugs are used to replace the wood around only those
pins that are reamed the worst.  Less often they simply redo all of
them and redrill and replug the whole piano.  I seldom use the old pin
blocks in grands but usually keep them in uprights.  I use this tech-
nique occasionally, but it is not a temporary fix it is for good, so
don't worry about it.  I use it more often in square grands that do not
need a whole new pin block.

In order for this to work, the holes drilled in the old pinblock
should be as large as possible to prevent the "plugs" from being too
thin after the new pin holes are drilled.  Conversely, the holes should
not be too large, or the old  pinblock might crack between rows under
tension.  Boesendorfer tapered pins might be use here with good
results.

So what do you guys think?  Is this workable plan for a "borderline"
piano?

D. L. Bullock    Piano World    St. Louis

 [ Delignit is a trademark for wood products (especially beech plywood)
 [ manufactured by B. Hausmann GmbH, Blomberger Holzindustrie, Blomberg,
 [ Germany.  See http://www.sperrholz.de/delignit/delignit.html
 [ -- Robbie