My First Agraffe Repair

[Michael Gamble]

Hello David & List
As they say..."a picture is worth a thousand words" but the words were good 
as well. I have made a print-out of your procedure..
Regards
Michael G.(UK)
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "David Vanderhoofven" <david@vanderpiano.com>
To: "Pianotech" <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: Thursday, March 17, 2005 2:47 PM
Subject: Re: My First Agraffe Repair


> 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
>


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


>