Painted keys

[jere fryett]

Dear list,

I have been lurking on this list for several months now and have learned a
great deal.  In June I retired from 35yrs. of teaching music in the schools.
Anticipating life after retirement, I have been taking the Randy Potter
course and I am nearing its completion.

I was given an old piano the other day (Strohber #138301) and it will be
invaluable for me to learn more about repair.  It has everything wrong with
it that you could imagine, i.e., loose pins, cracked bass bridge, broken
flanges, etc..  The thing that disturbs me the most is the keys.  They are
the original ivory and seem to be in good shape other than they are a bit
yellow.  Someone in their wisdom did some cosmetic surgery and painted them
white!  My question is, is there a way to remove the paint?  I can chip some
of it off but not all.  I really would like to preserve these keys.

Thank you for your suggestions in advance.

Jere Fryett
jfryett@minot.ndak.net