A good drill press must be used with a .272 fast spiral drill bit (letter I).

When drilling the pinblock there are two types of speed to be considered. First RPM. RPM is the rate of speed the drill press motor is turning the drill bit. You should set your drill press at about 1,000 to 1,400 rpm. If you set your speed lower than this you will not be able to insert the drill through the wood fast enough and the tuning pin hole will be burnt by the drill. Higher drill speeds may be too fast and you will have difficulty in holding back the fast spiral drill bit as is goes through the wood. With the rpm setting at 1,000-1,400 you should be able to control the "feed rate" of the drill bit.

Next speed rate to consider is "feed rate". This is how fast the drill bit passes through the wood. The feed rate is controlled by you and is the most critical part of the drilling process.

Everyone who drills pinblocks understands how important it is to be careful. Unfortunately however, when we try to be careful we usually become very deliberate and drill very slowly. When drilling a pinblock we must remember that the faster we insert (feed rate) the drill through the wood the larger the tuning pin hole and the looser the tuning pins. Likewise, the slower we insert the drill through the wood the smaller the tuning pin hole and thus the tighter the tuning pins. By controlling the feed rate of the drill you can vary the tuning pin torque by 100 inch pounds. Therefore, if you drill a pinblock and the pins are too tight, then you need to "speed up" your feed rate.

For example, if you take one second to insert the drill through the Falconwood pinblock, your tuning pin torque will be approximately 120 inch pounds. If you slow down you feed rate to about 2 to 2 1/2 seconds your tuning pin torque will increase to nearly 200 inch pounds. A slower rate than this will often result in burning the tuning pin hole and the pins may end up being too loose, too tight, or "jumpy".

Other Helpful Hints: Always use a sharp drill bit. A drill bit that is dull will be very hard to insert through the wood and the tuning pins will be very tight. Do not sharpen dull bits.

It is highly recommended to drill the pinblock the same day you string the piano. Drilling the pinblock and letting it sit for extended periods of time will cause the tuning pin holes to swell from humidity and the tuning pins will be too tight.

We drill the pinblock inside the piano just before stringing. I usually takes between 10 to 15 minutes to bore the pinblock.

Begin drilling from the treble end and work toward the bass. As you get closer to the bass, slow your feet rate down slightly. The reason for this is the coil on the lower tenor and bass strings take up more room on the tuning pin than the treble wire and thus less tuning pin will be able to be inserted in the wood. To compensate for this a smaller tuning pin hole will make the bass pins feel the same as the treble pins.

Most plates without tuning pin bushings have a hole that is about 3/8" in diameter. If you take an old 3/8" drill bit and grind down the tip so it has a small "needle" point at its end, you can pre-drill your pinblock with a hand drill by making a "location dimple" in the center of each plate hole. Do not drill any deeper than one ply of the falconwood block. By doing this, when you come back with your drill press and the .272 drill you will be able to easily find the center of the plate hole.

Use high quality tuning pins. There is a great deal of difference in the diameter of some tuning pins. We recommend using German tuning pins. Before using the tuning pins treat them with a rosin or comparable tuning pin treatment. We recommend 2/0 x 2 3/8" pins.

When stringing the piano make sure your hands are free from anything that may contaminate the tuning pins, such as hand lotion.

By using the Falconwood Pinblock and following the above instructions you will be using the very best pinblock material available and you will find that you will be able to achieve the torque that feels the best to you. Note: In the past we often felt that the tighter the tuning pins the better the pinblock will hold. With the Falconwood pinblock, pins with a torque of 120 inch pounds will hold just as well and last just as long as a Falconwood block with pins that have a torque of 200 inch pounds.

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