Text: From: john@player-care.com (John A. Tuttle) To: rolls@foxtail.com, bjh@hpesbjh.fc.hp.com (Benjamin Haass) Date: Thu, 05 Apr 2001 18:45:34 -0400 Subject: Repairing Loose Key Pins I can identify with Benjamin Haass's problem with regards to installing new key pins in a unit that had very rusty key pins. I had a similar problem when I rebuilt an old Kohler & Campbell 'Tom Thumb' upright that had been stored in a boiler room for 15 years. Ouch! The center rail pins can be glued into place using epoxy. No problem there because those pins never need to be rotated. And having them securely in place makes bending the pins as required quite easy. The real problem is the front rail pins. They must be able to be rotated so you can adjust the side-play of the key to an optimum setting. After running a quick experiment, I found that you can use epoxy to cement the pins into place, but you have to put mold release on the pins prior to cementing them in place. This allows the epoxy to harden, but still allows the pins to be rotated. Naturally, if you have the equipment to do so, the best thing to do is to make a new front rail. However, the holes for the front rail pins have to be in exactly the same location as the original pins, and that would be quite a challenge even for an experienced craftsman: 88 pins, all within less than 0.001" of where they were originally? Musically, John A. Tuttle

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