[ Ref. Bryan Smith in 110808 MMDigest ]

Since it takes some time for linseed oil to set up, I can only
envision this practice causing a complete mess.  In a grand piano
the linseed oil would run straight down onto the action below; in an
upright it would likely run out the bottom of the hole and down the
face of the plate, gumming up the strings at their contact point with
the nut.  I would not do this, ever.

After dealing with pianos for twenty-seven years, I do not like
unprofessional repairs whose consequences I have to deal with
afterwards.  Not only do I have to create a proper repair, I have to
undo sloppy and idiotic work.  I suppose it doesn't matter if it is
one's own instrument and no one else ever has to deal with it, but
that is rarely the case.

A pinblock can be re-used two or possibly three times if it is
properly cared for.  If a technician gunks it up with various liquid
applications, one can never promise the owner that a re-stringing will
be as good as new.  A quickie repair scheme of any sort costs several
thousand dollars more, in the future, and puts off improperly what
should be done now.

If tuning pins are failing, the piano needs to be re-strung.
Driving in a handful of oversized pins (also frequently overdone and
ill-considered -- ruin one tuning pin hole and the whole pinblock is
unusable) also eliminates the possibility that the pinblock can be
re-used with a total re-stringing.

Some will argue that if an instrument is to be re-strung, then it
should always have a new pinblock.  I do not disagree with this idea
much, but it is also practical to re-use a pinblock with sufficiently
over-sized tuning pins to grant another thirty-to-fifty-years' usage
at half the price.

As for the occasional loose pin, my first principle is to try to tap
the pin down without making the strings touch the plate at the bottom
of the coil.  If this will give more grab to the pin, then fine.
Second, if the pin can be replaced with another at the same diameter
but slightly longer--for the same reason as above--then use that.

If a larger pin must be used, go only to the next larger, necessary
diameter, and mark the pin with white paint (white-out?) so that any
other technician servicing that piano immediately knows the condition
of that pin and of that piano; it is frustrating to find hidden
surprises in a pinblock.  Also, the pinblock must be supported from
below, in a grand, when tapping in even a single tuning pin; otherwise
the pinblock laminations can be split apart, even jamming the action
inside the piano.

Whenever I see application stains around tuning pin holes, I know that
the pinblock is past its useful life and should've been re-strung, but
now will cost twice as much, and I won't be able to sell a job to the
owner.

Never do half-repairs.

Mark Ritzenhein