>Dear List, > >I am replacing a set of elbows on a Winter spinet, (Horace, >condolences accepted in advance). Usually they just break up >into dust and I can snap in the Vagius elbows and be done with >it, but most of these are soft! and I will have to pop out the >pin to remove. I think I remember someone talking about some >way to make them hard with freon? gas...Am I going crazy...... >I must be to still be working on these things... > >ilvey, RPT (David Ilvedson) >Pacifica, CA David, Three tips from a guy who has done his share of plastic elbows. 1. Try a soldering iron on the hard to remove elbows. The smell may bother you, but it is fast. Say goodbye to the tip, though. Heat it up at the pin and pull it out with your needlenose pliers or fingers (if you feel plucky!) 2. When you must twist off the old elbows from the sticker (won't crumble off), lock the sticker in your vice-grips, chuck the "Drop Lifter Action Button Regulator" (Schaff no. 3333) in your cordless drill, set it in reverse and watch the little nasties twist off. You may need to spread the fingers of the tool a bit to accomodate the elbow. This small step will save you time and wrist twisting. 3. Use a propane torch to heat the threaded end of the sticker for 3 seconds and SLIDE the new plastic snap-on elbow on. Try to be fairly consistent with the depth, but remember, a couple twists will correct any discrepencies. These techniques save me a lot of time. The last elbow set, from walking in the door to leaving took 1 hour, 30 minutes. Good luck. Eric Leatha, RPT Portland, OR tunrboy@teleport.com "The Buddha, the Godhead, is just as at home in the circuits of a computer or the action of piano as on the top of a mountain or the petals of a Lotus flower." -Robert Persig (freely interpreted by undersigned)
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