On Mar 12, 2009, at 9:13 AM, Jim Busby wrote: > I mean, I've heard horror stories of silicon and tuning pins. Like > maybe one drop and the pin turns into a black hole or something... Yes, there have been a number of horror stories at least of a speculative sort about silicone, partly to do with tuning pins, mostly to do with finishes. The notion is that "silicone creeps" - that it moves along the string to the tuning pin and into the block, for instance (if applied to a capo to lubricate). I guess most of us read the stories, but frankly I have never entirely believed it. Has anyone actually experienced this? About the effect on finishes, there is no question silicone causes fisheyes when spraying lacquer (say on a refinish job). The solution? "Fisheye remover" which is, from what I have been told, a silicone solution - you add some to the finish before spraying. IOW, adding enough of the material counters the effect, I guess. It does work. Lots of furniture polishes have silicone solutions in them, so the stuff is omnipresent and almost bound to get on the finish of any piano eventually. I guess I have heard that consistent use of a silicone based polish would have a negative effect on the finish. Again, I'd like to know how true this is, not having seen it happen. (I have always recommended non-silicone polishes, but that's just because of hearsay). Regards, Fred Sturm University of New Mexico fssturm at unm.edu
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