[pianotech] Pinblock Separation

[Ron Nossaman]

On 1/10/2013 8:34 AM, Wesley Hardman wrote:
> The piano is a Kimball studio.  The pinblock has separated from the
> frame with a huge, visible crack from one end to the other. A highly
> reputable manufacturer says this separation will not affect the ability
> of the piano to hold a tune and is only cosmetic and could be filled
> with a filler of some kind and then sanded down.  What is your take on this?

This indicates to me how little relationship there is between respect 
and factual information. This is structural and ought to be fixed.

You've already gotten enough conflicting information to doubt anything 
anyone says at this point, but this is what I've done for many years.

Unless someone has tried to raise the pitch with the back loose, you 
don't need to lower pitch. You also don't need to lay it down. Put a 
tarp or plastic under the piano (an end at a time) to catch any escaped 
glue. Remove the lid. Using big C clamps or pipe clamps, slowly and 
uniformly draw the crack together with glue inside. I use Titebond, but 
it doesn't really matter because the glue isn't what holds the thing 
together, it's the bolts. So use whatever glue you would prefer to clean 
up after. Removing one bolt at a time, I drill 3/8" holes through and 
insert carriage bolts from the rear. To keep the bolt heads from sinking 
into a soft back, a large washer that fits over the square part of the 
shank is used under the head. Nice and neat, though no one will see it. 
Snug up each bolt and move to the next one until you have them all in. 
Tighten all the bolts and remove the clamps. You can pull it up to pitch 
immediately and tune it. Make an appointment for a follow up tuning like 
with any pitch raise. Charge the same as the guys who spend all day or 
multiple trips doing it and you have a pretty good wage for a couple of 
hours of work, and a solid repair.
Ron N