Hello MMD.  My previous query about lower valve seats (080207 MMDigest)
must have been so longwinded that nobody got to the end of it, where
the actual question was, because I got only one reply.  So this time
I'll be more succinct.

In September, 1996, I wrote to MMDigest describing a method I had
devised for repairing the stripped screw threads one finds in the
valve deck of an Aeolian action and doubtless in other makes too.
I filled the stripped screw hole with a mixture of epoxy and sawdust.
(I had the idea that the sawdust would impart some springiness to the
filler when it had set.)  Before the filler set I inserted the
original screw, which had a light coating of grease so that the epoxy
would not stick to it, to just above its final position, as near as
I could judge.  When the wood screw was removed next day, there was
a restored spiral thread in the wood.

A few people responded to my posting, but none was very enthusiastic.
On 960930 Neil Rosenberg suggested that I try Lake One Wood Repairer.
I didn't pursue this at the time, because I had virtually finished the
action I was working on.  However, soon I'll be pulling apart another
Aeolian top action, and I just know there'll be quite a few stripped
threads to be found therein.

So, is this stuff still available, and does anybody know if it can be
got in Australia?  If it is a liquid, there may be problems in having
it mailed from the U.S.

What does anyone think of my greased screw idea, or is it better to
fill the damaged hole and then drill a new guide hole?

John Phillips in Hobart, Tasmania