Bridge Pin/Epoxy Question

[Roger Jolly]

Hi Terry,
             Blow the epoxy in to the holes with a hair drier, it will run
like water, have a small dish with some acetone nearby to wipe the excess
when it runs up the sides of the pin. Wipe towards the bridge pins to
prevent smudging the graphite on to the Maple. This method I have found to
be clean and neat, warming the epoxy like this also speeds the curing time.
 West System is a good choice of epoxy as it will soak into the end graain
a little and help stabalize the problem area.
If I had Andre's skill, I would recap. <g> Must admit that was a wonder to
see. Free hand drilling the depth and angle and getting them all factory
perfect.  But I suppose if I were making a board and bridge every 2 days,
maybe I would develop a higher skill level.  Last bass bridge cap, after
gluing to the root took me 4hrs and I thought that was good. A pro gave me
a wake up call. lol

Regards Roger



At 08:03 AM 10/06/00 -0400, you wrote:
>Hi List!
>
>I am restringing my first piano. (yea!!!) Both bridges were in pretty good
>shape (only a few supertiny hairline cracks in hi treble and low bass), no
>bridge rolling, downbearing was distributed real nice, the uncracked
>soundboard had a real smooth 1/8"+ crown, piano had no buzzes, and glue
>joints appeared intact. Seemed to me like a great candidate for leaving the
>bridges but simply replacing the slightly loose bridge pins (the fact that
>the piano is a 1930s Aeolean 5' 0" grand kinda influenced my recommendation
>to the owner also!).
>
>My question is: What is the best way to get the epoxy into the bridge pin
>hole. I have done the bass bridge and used West System epoxy applied with a
>length of piano wire. I was able to make a minimal mess (just a little on
>the top of the bridge at the hole edge upon application - easily wiped off
>prior to pin insertion), but inserting the wire 3 to 5 times into each hole
>to get enough epoxy in took me two hours to just do the bass bridge. I
>watched Christian Bolduc position, install, measure downbearing, plane,
>drill, notch, and pin a new bass and treble bridge in less time than it will
>take me to epoxy my treble bridge (and his piano - an S&S model A3 - had
>more strings!!!). I realize he has likely done one or two bridges before,
>but I have quite a bit of experience with epoxy and woodworkng and feel I
>was moving along at a reasonable pace for the task. Is there a better way? I
>can get a big glob if epoxy on the wire - enough for one hole - but if I try
>to get it into the hole, most of it would run down the side of the bridge.
>Any ideas? Is it easier to just recap a bridge?
>
>Terry Farrell
>Piano Tuning & Service
>Tampa, Florida
>mfarrel2@tampabay.rr.com
> 
Roger Jolly
Saskatoon, Canada.
306-665-0213
Fax 652-0505