Juice du Jour (Lubricants for Action Centers)

[JIMRPT]

In a message dated 3/12/98 8:12:34 PM, you wrote:

<<"*Alcohol and water, to shrink the bushings.  My understanding is that the

alcohol helps the water get into the wool fibers.  What kind of alcohol

works best?  Then this mixture has to be driven out of the bushings, be

this by evaporation, or ...*>>
 Z, Z, Z,  we/I have not communicated to you properly I fear.  This because
the Alcohol/Water solution does not "shrink the bushings" per se. What happens
with the application of the solution, is that the water causes the flange to
swell, which presses the bushing cloth tighter against the pin, which causes
the wood around the hole in the flange to compress ever so slightly, and when
the whole shebang has dried back out the flange is looser than when the
operation began...whew!
 Evaporation works just fine, but a good sunny day is the best thing, and/or
hairdryers/ drying boxes may be used.

<<"*Naptha, with silicone or mineral oil, supposedly to drive out the
water.">>
  Try this experiment Z, take a flange that is seized/sluggish with moisture
and just put a few drops of naptha on it allow it to dry for only as long as
it takes the naptha to evaporate..........see if the flange is looser now than
when you started.  Next take a clear container of water add just a little
naptha and stir well.  You will get a a layer of naptha on top of the water
which would tell you that naptha is lighter than water. Now ask yourself, can
a lighter substance drive out or displace a heavier substance or cause a
heavier substance to migrate?
 These experiments will allow you to answer for yourself the question of
whether naptha will 'chase' moisture.
  My use of silicone is not for the lubricity qualities, rather for the
tendency of silicone soaked wood to resisit the absoption of moisture. With a
properly treated action lubrication is the last thing you need to do, you
might need to do a small amount of repinning though..

<<"has anyone tried using a wetting agent in place of the alcohol?">>

  Z, in this use Alcohol 'is' the wetting agent.  I am not familiar with
PhotoFlo,but I am, by nature, suspicious of anything with a make up of
components I can't pronounce. :-)


<<"What kind of alcohol works best?">>
 I prefer denatured alcohol but some others use rubbing alcohol and/or wood
alcohol.  Susan, bless her poor sacrilegious heart, admits to using Everclear,
although it is not exactly clear whether she drinks it or squirts it on the
action parts. :-) Have you ever tasted Everclear with a touch of cherry juice
and lime ? Such nectar should not be wasted on mere wooden piano
parts............
Jim Bryant (FL)