Plugging and re-drilling birdseyes? Micro-precision felt cutter, for tiny pieces in butts?

[John Delacour]

At 8:08 pm -0600 23/8/07, Joe And Penny Goss wrote:

>G, Why not just size the hole? Yes you can make them smaller.

It's not even necessary to use size.  Water alone will do the job.  I 
use needle and thread in a small saucer of plain cold water (WITHOUT 
detergent!).  After decentring I pull the needle through the holes so 
that they are thoroughly filled with water and leave them for a few 
hours to swell back to the original size.

This week I have fully recentred a grand action using this method and 
have been able to use the original size of pin throughout, since the 
stiffness in the centres, in this case, was due only to the slight 
oxidation of the brass under the worn nickel plating of the pins and 
the piano had not been used so much as to cause the oxidation to wear 
down the bushing.

If centres are so loose that a pin more than 1/4 size larger (say 
1.25mm to 1.275mm) would be required, I rebush and use the above 
method to enable me to revert to use the size of pin I have chosen 
for the whole row.

I have always used the maxim "think of the next man" in piano work. 
When in 20 or 50 years' time the next perfect super-technician takes 
apart the piano and exposes my work, I don't want him cursing me the 
way I curse 95% of the "technicians" that I follow, and it would be 
good if he didn't even notice that a repair had been done, so well 
was it done.

JD