I have been servicing an old grand piano for a customer for only a few years, and the lyre mount has been a constant problem during this time. The lyre is attached to the keybed by only two wood screws, which have pulled out from just normal usage many times. There is evidence that a previous technician had already addressed this problem before. I have plugged the holes with dowels and remounted the lyre with slightly longer screws, only to repeat the repair a short time later. I have also tried installing 3/8 inch metal inserts with machine bolts, only to have them pull out as well. It was obvious that a new approach had to be taken to finally secure the lyre permanently. The first thing I did for the new repair was to plug the existing keybed holes with large hardwood dowels. I marked the centers of the plugs with cross-hairs which extended in both directions onto the keybed, so that they could be accurately located later during the work. I bought a 4 foot steel bar (48" x 1 1/2" x 1 1/4") at Home Depot, and cut off about 8 inches so that it would fit under the keybed between the legs, over the hardwood dowels. I measured the width of the lyre, and marked its position on the center of the bar. I then drilled 4 holes along the steel bar on either side of the lyre position, and mounted the bar with 1" x 1/4" inch lag bolts to the keybed, carefully locating it over the center of the dowels. The lyre could not be directly mounted to the bar as is, because its overall height would be extended by the 1/4" thickness of the steel. So at this point I routed a channel into the lintel (top cross-bar) of the lyre precisely the dimensions of the bar (1 1/2" x 1/4"), so that the lyre would straddle the bar and sit firmly against the keybed.

Holding the lyre in its correct position, I coated the ends of the mounting bolts with lipstick and inserted them through the lyre holes and up to the steel bar, thereby leaving red markings for the exact location for drilling the mounting holes. I then center-punched the center of the red dots for drilling the pilot holes. The bolts to be used were 3/8" fine thread (24 threads / inch), with the steel bar tapped to accommodate this thread. The recommended bit for the pilot hole for this size tap was a size "Q" (I was unable to find this bit locally, but had no trouble ordering it online). With a drill stop on the pilot bit, I drilled through the steel and into the hardwood dowels to the depth of the bolt length. I then used the 3/8 x 24 tap in a tap-handle to thread the steel bar and the dowel in the keybed to fully accept the entire bolt. The lyre was then bolted to the piano, and was a solid as could be.