Second guessing methanol

[lance lafargue]

Ed,
Living in one of the most if not THE most humid climate, I use Methanol and
water all the time, Steinways included.  I use either straight Meth (seldom
- usually on newer actions just a little sluggish), Meth and 5-20% water,
or one of these combinations with a hair dryer.  I usually use 15-20% with
dryer on _badly_ frozen actions.  I seldom repin.  I have over dryed with
the hair dryer and have had to repin some that were overdone in the past. 
If the problem comes back seriously, I talk dehumidifiers/with H-2's.  When
the DH is added it never recurs.  Also, I spray the pinning wholesale with
a small tightly focused spray bottle.  I don't carefully drop it on each
center.  Never had a problem.

My most common recipients of this method are Samick, Young Changs, and any
piano Stencil name they make.  

P.S.  What about the poison?  Jog my memory please.  I remember the list
discussing it's toxicity a while ago.  I know I'm probably not careful
enough, I breathe it (hair dryer evaporates it right up at you) and I get
it on my hands pretty often.  


LANCE LAFARGUE, RPT
LAFARGUE PIANO SERVICES
New Orleans Chapter
Mandeville, LA.
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lafargue@iamerica.net

"Learn from the mistakes of others. You can't live long enough to
make them all yourself."

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> From: A440A@AOL.COM
> To: pianotech@ptg.org
> Subject: Second guessing methanol
> Date: Friday, July 02, 1999 2:33 PM
> 
> Greetings all, 
>     I was asked to deal with a chronic problem on a 1998 Steinway L.  
> "Sticking keys". 
>     The cause was excessively tight hammer flange centers.  Being a 
> warranty-eligible problem, I wanted to stay within their recommendation,
so I 
> called and was told to put one drop of methanol on each center and leave 
> totally untouched for 24 hours.   I did, and the hammers are once again 
> swinging as they should.  
>     Now,  I KNOW that if I had repinned this hammerline, I would have had
no 
> further problems, (at least so far imhe).  However,  the ease of the
liquid 
> diet has a lot going for it, and if the result is equally durable, it is
a 
> no-brainer.  There were two prior visits by the dealer's techs, so it is 
> possible that the methanol was already tried, and if so, I will be
repinning 
> this thing later.  
>     Who on the list has experience of using this straight methanol on the
new 
> Steinway's pinning?
> Thanks, 
> Ed Foote 
> (and I always wondered what they denatured alcohol with,  it is this
stuff! 
> poison!)