A new repair for me: detached LH strap

[Siegmund]

Last night I had a really awful practice session. Had poor control of the volume, was pinching my leg with the bellows, was hitting wrong LH notes (more of them than usual.) Had my girlfriend look at my face and confirm that, no, I didn't look like I'd had a stroke, and I could still type with both hands.

Today when I got the nerve to pick up the instrument and try again --- I discovered the problem was the strap for the left hand was way too loose. I cranked it in 'all the way' with the adjustment dial, and it was still too loose... weird. Turns out the other, non-adjustable end of it had "adjusted" itself a good 2cm outward.



Opening up the case, I discovered that this end of the strap is supposed to be held down by two screws, and both of them had popped out of their holes, scattering some grains of sawdust:




Fortunately, the wood was in good shape, other than having a few tiny pinpricks from screws (it looked like this might be the 3rd or 4th time these screws had been re-driven), and the screws bit into the wood nicely and it feels secure again.


So I wiped the sawdust out of the case, sealed it back up, and went on to have a nice practice session tonight.

I wonder how long I have before it recurs. If it does happen again, should I do anything else to try to make the screw connection more secure?

 

[Dingo40]

Whenever wood screws work loose, as you have described, often the holes they sit in have become enlarged in the process.
It is necessary to reduce the size of the hole so that the threads can get a good grip again.
I achieve this by getting some fine slivers of
wood and glueing them into the hole, reducing the diameter of the hole and enabling the threads to get a grip again.
For the wood, I have successfully used matchsticks, even "flat " toothpicks.: for the glue, any carpentry glue, e.g. PVA, will do.
Glue the full length matchstick (toothpick) into the hole as far as it will go, then break (or cut) it off to size once the glue has set (overnight).

 

[debra]

Apart from making sure the screws are secure again another thing you could do is to put a small piece of wood between the case (above the screws in the last picture) and the metal piece the screws go into. If you glue a piece of wood in place there then even when the screws start to undo themselves again the piece of wood would prevent the belt from coming out again.
Sadly, the way belts are held in place nowadays is not very secure, and is used even in high-end accordions.

 

[JerryPH]

I was watching a guitar repair/restore video and the one little trick that I picked up was to find,take sawdust taken from that same area to completely fill the hole, then touch with some crazy glue. That makes the hole and the area around it as stable as the original wood.

Let dry, re-drill smaller holes and reuse the same screws. If you don't want them to come out, just before the screw is in all the way, touch the screw with some crazy glue and screw down. Let dry. You can still remove it if you really needed to, but it would take more effort.

The "budget" way to repair... fill hole with Elmer's wood glue, stick a round toothpick in the hole and trim it, let dry, drill out a small guide hole, use the original screws. Not as solid as above, but is an option.

 

[JIM D.]

All bass straps will stretch with time, Lower quality straps even more so in time. In most cases a hole
punch can be used to move the screw holes. In your case however the strap screws have worked their
way out of a soft wood anchor point. The suggestion to fill the screw holes in your instance should
work fine. Toothpicks will work well when glued in with most white or wood glues. Allow time for the
glue to set before reusing the original screws.

 

[Ventura]

elmers or wood glue is the correct type to use because
it regenerates the cellulose itself to re-attach/bind to other
particles of cellulose, which is the basis for those old commercials
and demo's that show how a glued wood-joint will hold stronger than
the wood surrounding it

other glues attach to surfaces, and may also work, but only
regenerating the cellulose to form it's molecular attachments
will truly make the area as strong as new and as lasting

if you have a chance to look at the keyboard on an old Studio piano
(45" high, plain body, used in practice rooms at music schools)
the faceplate is easily removed on these, and you have a fairly unobstructed
view of the action. if you look closely, you will note the boards,
typically basswood, are edge-glued until they have a plank that is wide enough
to cut out the keys from, which is done on a Jig that cuts them all at once..

many keys are angled, just as in an accordion, and usually 5 or 6 in the set
will have been cut across a wood-seam

marvel then, at the fact that this piano you are looking at has
been entirely dependent upon the integrity of those glue joints
and cellulose "handshakes" for literally hundreds of thousands.. perhaps
millions of keystrokes and notes pleasant to the ear