On Jan 3, 2011, at 9:28 PM, Gregory.Granoff at humboldt.edu wrote: > He always insisted that the factory literally dipped pinned centers > in a combination of mutton tallow and paraffin in those years That makes sense. The paraffin accounts for the stiffness/solidity of the bushing cloth, something in the tallow for the eventual stickiness. Seems like Steinway was after "firm and free" for a long time. I wonder if dipping in paraffin alone leaves the flange frozen, so adding a grease makes it free (initially)? Maybe I'll find the occasion to experiment (next time I'm melting paraffin). I 'd guess that dipping in paraffin alone would be likely to freeze it just because some of it would solidify between the wood of the flange and the shank, so maybe adding grease would keep that from happening - the excess would run off better. Also, maybe pure paraffin would be too stiff. Regards, Fred Sturm fssturm at unm.edu http://www.cdbaby.com/Artist/FredSturm
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