super glue battle

[Tom Dickson]

I know that there are some people on this list who have pulled our leg 
in the past.  I really hope that this is the case this time.

 
                                    IMHO
                                        Sincerely,
                                                  Tom Dickson


>From: Burndkrisp@AOL.COM
>Reply-To: pianotech@ptg.org
>To: pianotech@ptg.org
>Subject: super glue battle
>Date: Sat, 27 Mar 1999 01:41:51 EST
>
>List, I am a newbie to this wonderful world of piano tuning. I have 
read with
>great interest the discussions on using C.A. glue to repair pin blocks. 
I tend
>to think better using the letters SG instead of CA, because CA is to 
hard to
>remember. (I too peel the lables off and put on a computer print out 
lable
>that reads "S.G." It looks really proffessional & good.)
> I have one older customer that has a Steinway "l" or "m", I can't 
remember.
>Nice old couple, but the piano was horrible. It had been in S Florida 
for many
>years according to the lady. A fella named "Mr. Ford" sold them this 
piano a
>long time ago. Claimed it had a gold plate and they paid extra for it. 
Well, I
>came to tune it and it had some really "funny" pins that I would tune 
and then
>later come back and they were out of tune again. Not a lot but just 
enough to
>put the piano out of tune again. I had to pull really hard on the 
tuning pin
>to get it to move, but when it did move it jumped right up to pitch.  
After
>three times through it was still falling short of the mark on my Korg 
digital
>tuner. This is when the trouble started. 
>	I had promised them I would get their piano right. I have set as my 
goal,
>every piano tuned perfectly at 440.   I figure that'll get me some work 
and it
>did. They were real impressed when I showed them the needle on my tuner 
go
>right to 440 when I turned the tuning pin. Well anyway, it being a 
Sunday and
>all, I was tired after four hours and the d**m thing was still reading 
below
>440 on my tuner!!!!!!  Well, now I wanted to get it right and leave and 
get
>paid and all that. So I braved up and told them it would only be one 
more time
>through and it would be right at 440.  Now this is where I got really
>professional and I told them that it won't hold a tuning anymore 
because the
>pins won't hold their tune. I told them I would put some SG on the pins 
and
>wait for a few minutes before I tuned it again. At this time the clock 
says it
>4 pm, so I figure I can put on a coat of this SG and wait about 20 
minutes
>(beer time!!) go back and tune it . Meantime I just smooze with the Mr. 
& Mrs.
>and make big bucks while I wait. So I put the SG on the plate and watch 
it
>soak in around the holes. Not all of it is going in though? Some of it 
stays
>on the plate? I run out of the stuff around the mid treble and figure 
I'm
>making good money now I should go to the model shop and get a bigger 
bottle
>before it closes at 5.  When I come back I decide to check on my work. 
I tune
>the a to 440 again and this time the pin won't budge? Finally after a 
lot of
>wiggling I get a pin to move but it breaks a string! So now I decide 
that I
>should've tuned the piano while I was tuning so the pins would "set" in 
the
>right position. So before I get any farther into the string changing I 
start
>to tune again. This time I don't put the SG on until I have tuned it to 
the
>right spot.  Anyway I come back to where the string has broken and 
start to
>fix it.  I am going to back the pin out three turns ( was told 2  1/2, 
but
>three always works better, then you just hit it down until its even). 
So I
>start turning and the tuning hammer pops off the pin and slams into the 
lid
>lifter, cracking it. (man can you believe this? I've never had this bad 
of
>luck). Well I get the pin to turn out but by the time it gets to the 
third
>turn the head is so mangled my tuning hammer barely stays on it, So I 
decide
>to take it completely out and replace it with a "new pin". The one I am 
taking
>out was blue, but I show the couple the new one and get them to ok a 
silver
>pin. Now when I put in the new one it barely fits? Well since I know 
how to
>use SG I can put in any pin and just "SG" it.  So I have to take out 
the
>action to make sure the SG doesn't drip on the hammers. I pull the 
action. Man
>it's got some black s**t all over the bottom of it and my hands are 
still
>black! But I didn't see the black stuff until I set it on the couch 
which is
>of course, white!  (I carry peroxide and I can get that stain out. They 
know
>this and when I come back for the check up I'll fix it). So, I put the 
SG in
>and put my finger over the bottom of the tuning pin hole to make sure 
it
>doesn't come out. All is fine and good until I shoot it with the fixer. 
Man I
>had the shock of my life! All of a sudden my finger is on fire! I can't 
take
>it from the hole because the SG is holding it in place! It's burning 
like
>hell.  And I can't budge it. I try wiggling it round and round, but the 
skin
>just stays stuck!!!! I want to scream but I am in someone elses house. 
Finally
>the pain stops, but I still can't move my finger. I start to think 
about what
>I am going to do when the lady walks in. I quickly stop grimacing and 
tell her
>everything is almost finished but that I have to wait for the SG to set 
and so
>on. She says that her & her husband go to bed at 8 pm and could I just 
come
>back in the morning. I come up with a great one. I tell her that this 
process
>has to be completed in one day or otherwise it'll be "defective". So 
they wait
>up.
>	Meanwhile I think an finally come up that a good lube will do the job 
and
>sure enough I got some of this white oil. I rub it all over the finger 
and
>just massage it until my finger starts to peel off. Whew!  I don't know 
what
>white oil is but it's really good stuff. I use it all the time for 
pedal
>squeaks and things like that. I'll ask my man where he get's it. The 
guy I
>worked with used to mix it in a bottle and spray it when he couldn't 
find a
>squeak. I don't do that, but I just keep squirtin' till it stops making 
noise.
>Works! 
>	So now it's 8:30 I only got two and a half octaves to go. I tell the 
lady
>I'll be done in about 45 minutes. She says great and asks if she could 
pay me
>now so they could go to bed.  Victory!   Of course, I tell her. And 
then I let
>her know I will do the "check up" for free.  I finish tuning the piano 
in
>about twenty minutes. Now most of the piano is at 440, but not all. 
>	Question(s) Should I use more SG and tune it again on the free check 
up? How
>tight should the pins really be? I checked with my tourque wrench and 
all of
>the pins go off the dial. Can they still slip even when I can't budge 
them?
>What is the black stuff? What will remove it from the furniture if 
peroxide
>doesn't work?
>
>Wayne S. 
>Central Florida
>   

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