Pin Puller/David Love's Dilemma

[David Love]

Thanks Joe.  With the help of the June 2002 PTJ, I went and bought a
puller, went to my welder and had the tool made today.  It works quite
well.  Unfortunately, these suckers were in there tight with very little
pin sticking up at the top.  Were there enough pin to grip I think it would
have worked better.  Though 90% of them came out, 10% stripped off the top
of the pin and then sheared off.  I tried a variety of methods, heating,
not heating, heating and cooling, heating and pulling.  Heating did not
seem to make a difference.  I'll have to dig out the remaining pins and
recap the bridge.  I noticed on some of the pins that when I grabbed them
with a vise-grips and turned (which I tried toward the end when it was
clear my other methods were not reliable), I could hear a distinct click as
the pin broke free from its bond.  No visible evidence of epoxy.  They may
have been glued with CA.  

In notice on this piano MH AA 1923 that the plate support dowels have holes
drilled in the top and some of them have round headed screws in them,
presumably to adjust the plate height.  Many of these screws have been
removed around the curved side up to the treble.  I presume the last person
who worked on this lowered the plate, which they may have done at the
pinblock as well.   This may explain why underneath the struts, the pins
were filed down nearly to the bridge top--in order to give clearance for
the strings.  As I am recapping the bridge, I will try and return the plate
to it's original position, if I can determine what that was.  Which leads
to my next question.  Is there a good way to determine the original plate
position.  Virtually everything has been changed--new block, new hammers
(to compare the bore with the string height)???

David Love
davidlovepianos@earthlink.net


> [Original Message]
> From: Joseph Garrett <joegarrett@earthlink.net>
> To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
> Date: 7/17/2003 6:11:26 PM
> Subject: Pin Puller/David Love's Dilemma
>
> David,
> Here's a scan of the tool. What you don't see is about 10"-12" of shaft
that
> the "slider" (The blue thingee), travels on. I hope this helps. This
sucker
> has enough force to yank out the "spring pins", (vertical hitch pins, aka
> spring pins), out of a Charles Walter Grand!!!!!! DAMHIK!!!!<G>
> Best Regards,
> Joe Garrett, RPT, (Oregon)
>
> Been There, Didn't Like It, So I'm Here To Stay! [G}