I don't want to imply that I don't service Steinways that have verdigris-era parts in them. Quite the contrary. In fact, I just installed a set of new hammers with shanks and flanges in an S from 1936 over the old wippens. There's enough friction in the wippen flanges to be noticeable, but the budget would not allow new wips. So the owner understands that the result is limited by the old parts. He's delighted in the result, but partly because he does not expect new-piano performance from the action. Just very nice old-piano. I like to be clear on whose problem it is, that's all, and what's reasonable to expect. Then, too, the amount of excess friction in the "verdigris-ed" centers varies considerably from era to era and from piano to piano. Some wippen flange centers are remarkably functional, others hardly work at all even with lubrication. It seems clear to me that the environment plays an important role here in accelerating or delaying the chemistry. As always, a judgement call. But not really something to apologize for. Doug On Jan 7, 2011, at 2:37 PM, Susan Kline wrote: > On 1/7/2011 1:42 PM, Douglas Wood wrote: >> >> >> Now, on the question that brought this all up--is a one-time >> exposure to high humidity significant in this problem--I'd have to >> go with the very unlikely vote. I think it is a long-term oxidation/ >> corrosion/chemical reaction kind of problem. Unfortunate, but if it >> made the parts work better for 30 years or more, well, I would >> endorse the process unless there were a better one available. > > Hi, Doug > > So good to see you back on the list. > > I agree about the one-time humidity event. I think, though, that if > one takes a piano with verdigris from a wet climate to a very dry > one, having repinned the sluggish parts, one may be able to keep > them long-term. Our family Steinway A went from Connecticut to > Colorado, and verdigris of the old parts, once repinned, does not > seem to be an ongoing problem. > > The old parts seem awfully nice, so lightly built. It does feel bad, > tossing them. The hammer shanks and flanges got tossed, but the > wippens (1930) seem to still be going strong. So how much longer the > old parts can be kept going may depend a lot on whether the piano is > still in the moist climate where the verdigris started forming. > > Regards, > Susan -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/caut.php/attachments/20110107/7c8ced01/attachment-0001.htm>
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