Old Erard

[Ed Sutton]

I recently tuned a similar Erard. Several pins were loose enough to slip 
with a mezzo-forte blow.
I injected a few drops of thin CA with an insulin syringe, tuned other notes 
and gave the glue a few minutes to harden.
The CA'd notes tuned well, and I gave them a few drops after tuning them, 
just for insurance.
The pinblock is very cramped, so you will understand the need for a small 
syringe to apply CA.
Erard pinblocks are prone to splitting (I have been told). CA seems a good 
way to tighten a pin without stressing the block.
Ed Sutton


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "John Delacour" <JD at Pianomaker.co.uk>
To: "Pianotech List" <pianotech at ptg.org>
Sent: Wednesday, July 30, 2008 3:40 PM
Subject: Re: Old Erard


> At 17:00 +0100 30/7/08, David Boyce wrote:
>
>>...Three or four tuning pins are quite loose now...I'm therfore thinking 
>>the three or four loose pins would be good candidates for CA treatment - a 
>>"minimal interference" approach.  Do you concur?
>
> I've heard no negative reports of the CA treatment.  I haven't tried it 
> yet but I recommended it to a colleague/customer for a worn-out old 
> Steinway and apparently it worked a treat.
>
>>... What might I use to touch up and disguise the scratches on the 
>>soundboard?  Would the original soundboard finish be hard white varnish, 
>>or french polish?
>
> WHV.  It will be difficult to disguise the scratches.  WHV softens and 
> does funny things as soon as alcohol touches it, so you have to be very 
> careful with any spirit based product such as French polish, and in any 
> case this will just sink in to the scratch and make very little 
> difference.  If it really matters to you, you could try an oil or 
> polyurethane yacht varnish applied along the scratch with a sable pencil.
>
> JD
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