Years ago when I was interested in wooden boat building, I heard much about the dangers of corroding hull fasteners due to the galvanic process of dis-similar metals in close proximity. I don't pretend to understand the underlying processes, but have wondered if the steel flange screws and brass rails might not have an impact, at least in cases where the piano lived near the ocean. Since it's the brass that is oxidizing it might also effect the center pins? - Mark On 2:59 PM, Fred Sturm wrote: > On Jan 7, 2011, at 5:59 PM, Horace Greeley wrote: > >> The buckets into which parts (flanges only, unless the piano was >> being "tropicalized") were dipped were filled with melted paraffin >> wax, which was not mixed with tallow. > > > If this is the case, no other "contaminants" besides a bit of > whale oil, that makes the verdigris question quite puzzling. One thing > that "paraffins" have in common is non-reactivity. They don't really > combine well with other chemicals, though they burn readily. Seemingly > they are nearly inert chemically, so it seems unlikely they would > become gummy with age. Hmmm... Unless the "paraffin wax" was not well > refined, and had impurities that led to the long term problems. Or > somehow humidity and atmospheric contaminants somehow interacted in > the environment created by paraffin impregnated wool. > Regards, > Fred Sturm > University of New Mexico > fssturm at unm.edu > > > > > >
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