Unfortunately (or fortunately) not all tuning pins accept a CA treatment. Apparently, dousing the whole bannana at once and setting it back up caused quite the failure. I recommend and always test anything first before attempting the proceedure enmass. Enlightenment is just a light bulb away. Funny thing is CA has the wonderful ability to escape gravity and this job could've been done (or tested) standing up. Try this little experiment yourself. Find a nice piece of wood with a crack in it. The thicker the wood the longer this test will take, so in the case of those willing to spend long hours get a thick 4X6, others get a piece of soundboard material. Stand the board so the crack is vertically aligned. Size of crack matters, get something that qualifies as a "hairline". Now apply the CA starting from the center of the crack. It will go up and down. When the bottom is filled the rest will travel to the top until it too is filled. Put it in too fast and it spills out, so let it cure a little before trying to fill it. In the case where the TP holes are too tight (to accept any CA) you must remove the pin, coat the hole and let it cure. Good CA will cure before you can finish frying bacon. (So maybe you could ask the client to cook some breakfast while you work.) Additionally, a shim (installed in a TP hole) although very effective, leaves a gap somewhere in the hole. CA on the other hand, leaves no gap. Using a whole bunch of the stuff can make tuning a very hard job. And because it requires air (humidity) to cure the more you use the longer it'll take. (If you try to fill it all at once you are just making a new container for the stuff.) Just a dab will do ya. Test, rest, and repeat. B Pottman "A strange thing happened while at work today." Message: 15 I bought 8 ounces of the thin CA from Dryburg especially for the job. I lay the piano on it's back and let the glue well around the pins. It never went anywhere, except for down on the dampers when I lifed the piano back up. What a mess. I have read about many technicians who have had good luck with the CA approach. It didn't work for me. I also tried it on a single loose pin in a Steinway D, and once again, it did not make it past the plate bushing. I ended up shimming about 30 pins in that Steinway to make it tuneable. That's a permanent fix, CA is not. Richard
This PTG archive page provided courtesy of Moy Piano Service, LLC