Hey Jim, I remember many many years ago Willis Snyder ringing the bell on silicone for keybushings. The fear being that it would travel down the pins and the pins would walk out. I used for many years the naptha/silicone solution that several manufacturers recommended and supplied, and have never seen a problem with this type of thing. Never ever. Some keyboards got multiple and liberal doses and I have observed them for over 20 years. I realize that this is purely anecdotal evidence. The amount of silicone in VSP is minute compared to that old solution of naptha and pure oil. I certainly wouldn't want to compound a finish with it or contaminate a pinblock, but for action work... The other fear was that if you use silicone for action centers you would contaminate the birdseye and the pin would not hold in there, or that if you had to replace the bushing the glue would not hold. While I have some questionable experience and feeling about the former the latter has never been a problem for me. I agree with Fred there's alot of rumor out there and very little science. Chris ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jim Busby" <jim_busby at byu.edu> To: <caut at ptg.org> Sent: Thursday, March 12, 2009 10:13 AM Subject: Re: [CAUT] VSProfelt vs alcohol/water/softener vs steam Chris, Should we be concerned with this as far as "posting" the ingredients. 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... Jim -----Original Message----- From: caut-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:caut-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of Chris Solliday Sent: Thursday, March 12, 2009 10:00 AM To: caut at ptg.org Subject: Re: [CAUT] VSProfelt vs alcohol/water/softener vs steam It's true, Bob M told me. Chris Solliday ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jim Busby" <jim_busby at byu.edu> To: <caut at ptg.org> Sent: Thursday, March 12, 2009 9:20 AM Subject: Re: [CAUT] VSProfelt vs alcohol/water/softener vs steam Hi Fred, Silicon?? How do you know? I know that Yamaha uses some silicon (or at least used to, according to LaRoy) in their flange bushing cloth. But isn't that for lubrication? And if it indeed is silicon in the VS, wouldn't that be a death blow if someone used it in the wrong place. i.e. anywhere near or closely connected to a tuning pin? If it is true maybe a warning label is appropriate? BTW, since you taught us the steaming method in addition to whatever, I've too have found more stability than with any solution alone. Regards, Fred -----Original Message----- From: caut-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:caut-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of Fred Sturm Sent: Thursday, March 12, 2009 8:08 AM To: caut University Technicians Subject: [CAUT] VSProfelt vs alcohol/water/softener vs steam I finally found the opportunity to do a comparison of VSProfelt with an emulated mixture of alcohol, water, and fabric softener. I did wippen cushions and key bushings on an upright. For the key bushings, I also did a comparison with my usual steam method. My emulated mixture was approximately 12% softener, 18% alcohol, and 70% water (the figures are a result of adding to a 5 mm line for softener, 15 mm with 70% isolpropyl alcohol, and 40 with water - those lines being cumulative. This was not utterly precise, just a convenient guess, and then I did the calculations of percentage). I think the VSProfelt is actually lower in alcohol and higher in softener, and it also has silicon oil added in some formulation. VSP is milkier looking than what I made, and it doesn't wick quite as fast into the felt - hence my guess about more softener and less alcohol. Results? A tie. VSP works quite nicely. So does a mix of alcohol, water and softener. I couldn't tell any difference in the results whatsoever, other than the lubricant in VSP. The tie was between VSP and my emulation solution. Steam was significantly faster, and slightly more effective - key bushings only in this case. I think the more effective part came from the steam re- expanding the wood where it might have been squeezed/eased previously. For the bushings I had the keys in two Spurlock clamps. I applied the liquids using a tapered, pointed paintbrush (in preference to a hypo oiler, that takes longer because of the need to apply to each side separately). I did one key clamp with liquids, the other with steam. For the liquids, I alternated between sharps and naturals for the different solutions, changing the alternation when I changed from balance to front rail. The full steaming and ironing process took considerably less time than applying the liquids and inserting the cauls. I'll send a separate post following with photos of the steam process. Regards, Fred Sturm University of New Mexico fssturm at unm.edu
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