Sauter vertical

[Robert Goodale]

I've never seen such a thing but I'm not so sure I want to.  Sounds scary.  If
it is a round hole I was thinking, perhaps you could plug the hole completely
with a dowel, (cleaning them out first and/or properly sizing them with a brad
point drill on a drill press).  Then you could set up a jig on a router table
and cut new "normal" mortises and bush them as you normally would.  Leather, as
you mention, is a great product for key bushings but you would still have the
same problem as you did before with round holes to start with.

Rob Goodale, RPT


"david c. brown" wrote:

> List;
>
> A local colleague presented an interesting problem at our meeting this
> week. He is working on an older Sauter vertical ( I do not know age or
> model at this time. Perhaps 15 - 25 years old ) and the task is to bush the
> keys. The problem is that the original key bushings were made of cork (yes
> cork ) disks inserted in round mortices at both the front and balance
> rails. Imagine a hole about the size if a dime in the key button. The cork
> has now deteriorated and is in fact gone from most of the keys.
> Has anyone seen such an arrrangement and / or replaced said bushings? Some
> suggestions at the meeting were leather or dense felt to replace them. Many
> thanks.
>
> David
>
> David C. Brown RPT
> Staff Piano Technician
> School of Music
> The University of Texas at Austin
> mailto:dcbrown@mail.utexas.edu