Pianotech

This brought a smile to my face and heart. Just so glad it wasn't me! Lol

Thanks for sharing this and keeping it real. :-)

------------------------------
John Formsma, RPT
New Albany MS

Live not by fear or lies.

Original Message:
Sent: 07-14-2021 20:28
From: Karl Roeder
Subject: Story of an agraffe

Recently I was asked to make a pinblock for a local shop I do contract work for. They had showed me that it had a failed agraffe repair when I saw the piano in their shop. Since it was going to be in my shop anyway I thought I'd just throw in the new insert and agraffe as a lagniappe along with the new block. After all I'm a Registered Piano Technician and thus well versed in all manner of piano repairs. Not only that but I'd just tested negative on a rapid covid test in order to do a tuning in a recording studio. So I was feeling 10 feet tall and bulletproof as well. At this point dear reader take a moment to look up the word hubris in the dictionary (or just google it) and I think you'll see where this is headed. The hole had been drilled out to about 1/4" but something was clearly stuck in the bottom too high up to just drill and tap for the new threaded insert. So I tried drilling down a bit further with a 3/16" cobalt bit. It just sat there spinning. Well darn; I guess I'll try from the bottom side. Ummmm there's no hole in the bottom side. At least not enough hole to get a tool into anyway. So now the plate needs to turn over again and I'm wondering why didn't I do this before I made the block and glued it in while the plate was already upside down. Well then the fun really started

I saw a tiny hole and part of the obstruction so I grabbed a small cone grinder I bought years ago for reasons lost to memory and proceeded to enlarge the opening. As more of the obstruction appeared it became clear that it was a lot harder than the cast iron. It also wasn't budging.

I switched to a small carbide burr to work around the edges of the obstruction. Finally I started to see some movement .

at last I was able to use a punch to dislodge the offending piece.

The poor soul who tried the repair before me had broken off the tap they were using when it reached the bottom of the hole. Taps are really really hard.

So now just flip the plate right side up and clean up the hole a little and start drilling for the new insert. Right?  Wrong. There's something stuck to the sides of the hole.

After a reasonable amount of foul language and grunting I managed to dislodge the new obstacles. Turns out there had been a couple of broken drill bits incurred trying to drill out the broken tap. Did I mention that taps are really really hard?

So two hours and a bit after first starting this odyssey I was finally able to drill out the hole install the threaded insert and replace the agraffe. The moral of the story being that the next time you're feeling 10 feet tall and bulletproof, and someone wants you to complete a repair that another person has already abandoned, remember this story.  Smile broadly and speak thusly: " I'll be happy give it a try. Once I see what it needs I'll get back to you on the cost." I hope this little tale brings a laugh or two as you consider the misadventures of one who ought to know better :-)

This brought a smile to my face and heart. Just so glad it wasn't me! Lol

Thanks for sharing this and keeping it real. :-)

------------------------------
John Formsma, RPT
New Albany MS

Live not by fear or lies.

Original Message:
Sent: 07-14-2021 20:28
From: Karl Roeder
Subject: Story of an agraffe

Recently I was asked to make a pinblock for a local shop I do contract work for. They had showed me that it had a failed agraffe repair when I saw the piano in their shop. Since it was going to be in my shop anyway I thought I'd just throw in the new insert and agraffe as a lagniappe along with the new block. After all I'm a Registered Piano Technician and thus well versed in all manner of piano repairs. Not only that but I'd just tested negative on a rapid covid test in order to do a tuning in a recording studio. So I was feeling 10 feet tall and bulletproof as well. At this point dear reader take a moment to look up the word hubris in the dictionary (or just google it) and I think you'll see where this is headed. The hole had been drilled out to about 1/4" but something was clearly stuck in the bottom too high up to just drill and tap for the new threaded insert. So I tried drilling down a bit further with a 3/16" cobalt bit. It just sat there spinning. Well darn; I guess I'll try from the bottom side. Ummmm there's no hole in the bottom side. At least not enough hole to get a tool into anyway. So now the plate needs to turn over again and I'm wondering why didn't I do this before I made the block and glued it in while the plate was already upside down. Well then the fun really started

I saw a tiny hole and part of the obstruction so I grabbed a small cone grinder I bought years ago for reasons lost to memory and proceeded to enlarge the opening. As more of the obstruction appeared it became clear that it was a lot harder than the cast iron. It also wasn't budging.

I switched to a small carbide burr to work around the edges of the obstruction. Finally I started to see some movement .

at last I was able to use a punch to dislodge the offending piece.

The poor soul who tried the repair before me had broken off the tap they were using when it reached the bottom of the hole. Taps are really really hard.

So now just flip the plate right side up and clean up the hole a little and start drilling for the new insert. Right?  Wrong. There's something stuck to the sides of the hole.

After a reasonable amount of foul language and grunting I managed to dislodge the new obstacles. Turns out there had been a couple of broken drill bits incurred trying to drill out the broken tap. Did I mention that taps are really really hard?

So two hours and a bit after first starting this odyssey I was finally able to drill out the hole install the threaded insert and replace the agraffe. The moral of the story being that the next time you're feeling 10 feet tall and bulletproof, and someone wants you to complete a repair that another person has already abandoned, remember this story.  Smile broadly and speak thusly: " I'll be happy give it a try. Once I see what it needs I'll get back to you on the cost." I hope this little tale brings a laugh or two as you consider the misadventures of one who ought to know better :-)