Steinway let-off screws

[Ron Nossaman]

>I have a Steinway let-off screw with a broken eye.  I began turning out from
>the bottom with a needle-nose vise-grip and it went about a 1/4 of the way
>and then broke.  Any ideas on how to remove it?  I'm thinking about drilling
>it out but the brass and dowel will be softer than the screw...pretty small
>for an EZ out.
>
>David I.

Tubing, preferably steel, but brass will do in a pinch, and is available
from model building hobby shops. Choose a size that just fits over a new
letoff screw thread. With luck, it will go in the hole in the brass.
Snaggle up the end of the tubing a bit to simulate saw teeth, like a deep
little hole saw, and run it into the rail over the stub of the broken screw
(or centered on the hole if the screw's broken below flush. If you cut your
teeth backward and run the drill in reverse, you might even get lucky and
back the screw right out as it heats up - but don't count on it. Plug the
resulting hole, drill, and install the new screw.
Ron N