[pianotech] pinblock drilling clamp

Mike Spalding mike.spalding1 at verizon.net
Wed Aug 11 18:03:01 MDT 2010


I learned to drill pinblocks out of the piano, and even though Ron N's 
arguments for doing it in the piano are quite compelling, have never 
gotten around to setting up for that process.  Step one, find a radial 
drill press.  Nope, not yet.  But I need to improve the consistency of 
pin torque, and thought that double-drilling  might be the answer.  I 
know from painful past experience that you need a pretty effective 
hold-down for the second drill, else the workpiece will climb up the bit 
until it hits the chuck, then commence to spin.  At that point, all pin 
torque consistency is gone.  So in preparation for my next pinblock, 
I've prototyped a hold-down clamp.  Thought you might be interested in 
seeing this..  The photo shows test holes being drilled in a piece of 
pinblock scrap.  pilot drill 7/32, final drill "F" .257.  Pins in the 
test piece are reasonably consistent - 125 to 150 in-lb.  Of course, the 
real test is 224 pins in a real piano, so I'll let you know later how it 
works in production.  Meanwhile, I'm curious if anyone else has taken 
this path, and if so, with what result?


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