My First Agraffe Repair

David Vanderhoofven david@vanderpiano.com
Thu, 17 Mar 2005 08:47:04 -0600


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Thank you, thank you, thank you!

It took more time to assemble the items in my agraffe repair kit than it 
did to do the actual repair.

The agraffe had broken off at the top of the threaded stem, so I center 
punched it and used a left handed drill bit turning counter clockwise and 
the agraffe stem came right out!  I did lose the beckets of the wire, but 
was able to reuse the bass strings.  Thanks to you guys I can now do this 
confidently and quickly.  My agraffe repair kit is in a small plastic tool 
case, with a combination t-handle, an agraffe turning tool, an assortment 
of agraffes (single, double, triple) an assortment of left hand drill bits, 
an assortment of easy outs, a 1/4" tap wrench, and a tap for both sizes of 
agraffe threads, and JB Weld (just in case).

Interestingly, the tone on the unison with the new agraffe is much more 
pleasant.  The rest of the piano is loud and harsh and terrible, but the 
unison with the new agraffe actually sounds pretty good.  Perhaps the 
spacing of the new agraffe holes is different and the strings are now in a 
new position on the hammer.  But possibly the old agraffes are so worn and 
grooved from string contact that the strings are just buzzing and noisy 
from poor terminations?

Next time I restring I am seriously going to consider installing new 
agraffes if it will help the tone.

Happy Saint Patricks Day!

David Vanderhoofven
Joplin, MO

At 10:05 AM 3/4/2005, you wrote:
>What a coincidence!  My first tuning of the day, and there is a broken 
>agraffe in the bass (Kimball microgrand).  This will be a first for me.  I 
>never thought I would need to use this information, but I am ready to do 
>this repair, thanks to all of you on the list.  I have printed out all the 
>recent information about broken agraffe removal and replacement and am in 
>the midst of putting together an agraffe replacement kit.
>
>This list is a blessing, and you guys are great!  I will keep you posted.
>
>Thanks!
>David Vanderhoofven
>Joplin, MO

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