Ivory keytops(wafers)

[Richard Wagner]

With apologies to Mark Ritchie and wishing to detract nothing from his fine
letter reprinted below, I need to voice an opinion about ivory wafers...


I prefer using wafers too but the ones I've purchased of late seem to be
worthless.

The good old ones I once got from (Schaff I think) didn't get slimy when put
in warm water as stated below.  They also weren't slippery and thus were not
much of a problem to clamp down.

The good ones, when immersed in warm water, immediately started to ooze
white tendrils of glue and, contrary to being slimy and rubbery feeling,
were much more limp.

When held in place with a (hot enough) clamp, the glue literally dripped out
and after sitting over night, the ivory was very difficult to remove ie:
Stuck on for sure!

I keep harping on the word "slimy" because when I see one behaving in that
manner, especially if there's little or no glue leaching from it into the
water, I can count on it to fail.

I don't think I'm just being nostalgic here.  I beleive that the wafers
currently available from Schaff and Apsco (at least) have been giving glue
wafers in general a bad name for quite some time.

Any responses...?  Did I just accidently get some junk from both suppliers
or what?
Does anyone know where to get good ones?

Now that my tirade has abated, a positive note about heating the brass head
and tail clamps:  I use an old toaster oven.

Set it to the temperature you prefer and put the plates inside on a warming
tray.  They stay at a constant temperature and an average little oven will
hold as many as you'll need for a big job.  It'll also make a decent hot
sandwich for lunch.


                                                                  Richard
Wagner RPT



> Chris
>
>Yes glue wafers are still used.  I think they are the best way to
>attach ivory. It is really not that hard -- but does take some time
>and probably not suited for in the home or quick fix type repair.
>We, or should I say my wife actually, put on two whole sets
>of  ivory heads and tails just this past month. If the original
>glue wafer is not damaged ie. torn, or worn from being used
>with no cover, it can often be re-activated with a few drops of
>water. Put a ivory clamp on and align to the key. Add a
>little heat even from a match or lighter will work for a quick
>repair. For doing new wafers most of the work is preparing the
>key surface and the ivory, scraping with a razor blade has been
>mentioned and works, a cabinet scraper works as well.
>Get all of the ivory matched up for each key, we even tape them
>on so they won't get mixed up or knocked off, the fitting takes
>the most time. Lay out several ivory clamp plates and place
>a iron on them to heat. Soak the wafers in warm water maybe
>10 to 15 seconds untill it curls up some - feels a little "slimey".
>Remove the heat from the plates  ( as you get into the process
>you have some plates heating and some cooling)  using tweezers
>or pliers place the plate on the ivory. The plate should be warm
>(not 212 degrees, I don't think, but then I try not to touch them
>by hand) in other words a little hot to handle. Practice helps and
>if you do a whole set you'll get some practice. Tighten the clamps
>and they will try to slide, spend as much time as it takes on this
>step. You should see glue squeeze out. The rest of the work
>involves trimming the excess wafer from the sides.
> sanding and leveling the ivory,rounding the edges and buffing
> the standard stuff. We look at the old ivory remaining
>as a very limited and precious resource. We attempt to
>salavage as much as possible, preserve as many ivory
> keyboards as is feasible or practical.
>
>Mark Ritchie
>Cols,OH
>
>