My First Agraffe Repair - Done

[Terry]

Glad to hear things worked out for you. Pianotek (I think) sells a handy
little reamer that is specifically designed to evenly shave off brass from
the bottom of the main body of the agraffe. It works well.

Terry Farrell

> That 1927 Steinway agraffe repair came off with hardly a hitch.  The new
> agraffe from Schaff had that conical undercut.  Even so, I could not turn
> it far enough after first contact for proper alignment.  And a 10-mil shim
> washer produced about the same misalignment, only a half-turn earlier.
> Instead what I did was this.  I wrapped the threads with a bit of paper to
> protect them and then very lightly stroked the seating surface of the
> agraffe with a fine-toothed machinist’s file.  I rotated the agraffe so as
> to take off material evenly around the seat.  The first try was perfect.
> It delayed first contact by about 90 degrees, which made proper alignment
> reachable with a very snug fit.
>
> And yes, Joe, I did loose one becket, but the old strings went in and are
> up to pitch.  I think it helped that I never completely straightened out
> the wire ends when I removed the strings.  I enlarged the coils just
> enough to allow the wire to slip out of the agraffe hole.  You can twist a
> surprisingly small coil through an agraffe if you’re careful.
>
> Robert Scott
> Ypsilanti, Michigan