Pianotech

  • 1.  titebond for worn flange bolt holes? correction

    Posted 04-16-2021 23:53
    the stuff I have is called 'pin-tite', not titebond.

    It is supposed to tighten tuning pins. Will it work to tighten
    over-drilled flange holes, the ones whose purpose is to hold the whippen
    securely at the back of an upright?


  • 2.  RE: titebond for worn flange bolt holes? correction

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 04-17-2021 02:32

    No, pin tite would not be good for loose wippen screw holes.

    A strip of buckskin, pointed on the end, clipped so that it exactly matches the depth of the hole, and wet with a water-based glue like Elmer's or Titebond (original) will do a fine job. The water in the glue makes the leather stretchy, the leather takes up some of the extra room in the hole, the screw then presses into the squishy leather, which makes a new thread for the screw. As the glue sets and dries the leather gets very hard. Water based glue never seizes a metal screw (like CA can) because it remains slightly flexible when set. (Put a puddle of Elmer's in a jar lid and let it dry. You can pull up one edge, and bend the whole piece.) The water based glue (I've had excellent results for years with simple Elmer's) also sticks back together any wood splinters in the hole.

    After the glue sets and the leather turns hard as nails the screws can then go in and out many times, and the new thread exactly matching the screw, formed by the leather, will remain good.

    In the middle ages, shields were made by taking a wooden frame and stretching wet leather over it.?? As the leather dries and shrinks it gets very hard.