Hi all, In an old upright, I am considering removing the sustain pedal vertical dowell's guide arm (anchored to inside side of case left of action, with a hole in the end for the dowell to pass through) and replacing its silly self with a pin in the top of the dowell that would fit into a theoretical hole in the damper lift rod lip. Background: Two years ago I lined up the geometry on all the pieces for this pedal as best as I could, but the arc the dowell travels still creates friction problems that tend to work the arm loose and wear through bushing cloth. (At the moment it is tacked down with CA glue as well as screwed in with long screws) More background: I have seen one other piano where someone made this modification, successfully drilled the hole and all, but left the guide arm and all its problems hanging there. It eventually became a percussion section of its own, and is now out of there. Questions: Regarding this theoretical hole, exactly what is it, cast iron or steel, that I would be drilling through? If it is cast iron, do I run the risk of the old metal cracking? If it is steel, I need to go get a very very hard bit for the job. It'll be good to get the damper lift rod off the action for this repair, as it has become so rough with corrosion that the contact points with the damper levers all emit little grunts when the pedal is pumped. I'm thinking steel wool, polish, and McLube. Thoughts? Experience? Thanks much, Audrey Karabinus, Seattle
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