Pianotech

  • 1.  Buckshot Cut-Off Bar

    Posted 04-07-2019 12:40
    Fun facts to show and tell - and a first for me. Cut a bunch of hard maple for the rim-sized cut-off bar for an S&S AIII. Cut them about 5 mm thick. The last lamination cut from a two-inch-thick board will always end up being an odd thickness. So I leave it thicker than 5 mm and simply plane it down to the thickness of the others. While planing one of the laminations - which had a couple small defects in the wood (no big deal in the middle of a cut-off bar) - I saw something that looked like a nail or some other metal object (the defects were in the middle of the board thickness - couldn't see them before cutting the laminations). But then I though: no it can't be because it doesn't go through the wood. So I ran it through my planer (with my new $1,000 spiral cutterhead) and the darn thing was still there. So I thought oh, no, I've just mangled a bunch of the blade inserts on my cutterhead by running a nail through the planer. Then I went to try and dig it out - and it popped right out - kinda felt soft also (like lead). Then I noticed how round it was - buckshot! - or rather bird shot I suppose! There were at least three of them - you can see them in the pictures below. Hey, maybe it was even me that shot that sugar maple tree 50 years ago - I used to go skeet shooting with my dad back then……


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    Terry Farrell
    Farrell Piano Service, Inc.
    Brandon, Florida
    terry@farrellpiano.com
    813-684-3505
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  • 2.  RE: Buckshot Cut-Off Bar

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 04-07-2019 13:23
    Maybe the lead was soft enough to not injure the planer inserts? 

    Mark Schecter
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  • 3.  RE: Buckshot Cut-Off Bar

    Posted 04-07-2019 14:57
    Ugh...your inserts will probably be okay with lead...but really...how is it that as soon as you install a new set of knives, bang, one always finds a vein of some fine ferrous substance. I like the inserts, as you can just change the effected ones. My jointer has them, but not my planer.

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    Jim Ialeggio
    grandpianosolutions.com
    Shirley, MA
    978 425-9026
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