Balance pin holes

[Gina Carter]

From: Allan L. Gilreath, RPT <agilreath@mindspring.com>
Subject: RE: Balance pin holes

Hi Allan,

Good post. I agree with your methods with just one small difference of
opinion.

>  Several supply houses sell a tool that is sometimes called a
> "balance rail hole reamer."  Actually, the design doesn't do anything to
the
> hole but to the thickness of the wood at the bottom of the key.  A better
> name would be "balance rail hole counterbore" or "key mortise thicknesser"
> (is that a word?).  This tool is inserted through the keybutton and
pressed
> down to the bottom of the key then rotated clockwise to remove extra wood
at
> the bottom of the mortise (top of the balance rail hole.)  A finger held
> over the bottom of the balance rail hole tells you when the tip (which
> approximately 1/8" long) begins to protrude.

For years I did the same, in spite of LaRoy's advice not to use this method.
He was the first, that I recall, who told me always be careful-- you can
remove it but you can't put it back. That phrase is firmly entrenched on my
brain (what's left of it <g>). Finally, I was shown a demonstration that
proved LaRoy was right, as usual. It showed that when wood is compressed,
humidity changes can cause it to swell back very near where it was. This can
be very helpful especially if the balance the hole has been over-eased as
sometimes happen. I try to remember that wood loses moisture much slower
than it absorbs it. Long way of saying that it's better to have that extra
bit of wood in reserve than not to have it at all. I use the Yamaha style
key spacer/easer for all key easing (fitting - good term Allan). As with any
tool, once it's mastered it really does the job well. (Learning curves,
don't you just hate them sometimes.)

Gina