>In a message dated 96-08-28 16:18:18 EDT, Doug Hershberger wrote: >The piano is less than 3 years old, the pins have no corrosion to speak of and >>they were liberally coated with McLube. Doug, I think that the McLube is your problem, or at least a contributing factor. We've been dealing with a lot of worn bushings in our piano major practice rooms for the last few years. Though it's true that these pianos get 12-14 hours of hard play a day, I've always thought that the bushings should last more than one year. Usually there was obvious wear after only a few months! I followed what I thought was the proper procedure: Polish pins Use only high quality bushing cloth Lubricate pins with McLube After tiring of seeing my new bushings go to @$#!&%!! in a matter of months I started doubting the use of McLube. So I did some tests. On new bushings I tried McLube (on the pin, on the cloth, and both) using the original formula,the 25L, and the 444A, others I treated the cloth with a small amount of Protek, and others were left with only pin polishing. After six months, the McLube bushings were all shot, the untreated bushings showed some wear, and the Protek bushings had negligible wear. I have found that McLube, in all its formulas, eventually gums up and causes a great deal of friction. I don't use it any more and have donated our case of it to the Lyric Opera Theater shop for them to use as it was intended - a mold release. I am convinced that it never was meant to be and therefore should not be used as a long-term lubricant. Since purging the shop of McLube bushing jobs are enjoyable again, Knowing that they won't be back in the shop any time soon! Later. ---- Rick Florence, Piano Technician Arizona State University School of Music Rick.Florence@ASU.Edu
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