Sandblasting Revisited

[Stan Kroeker]

>Question:  Do you remove parts (whippens, hammer butts, etc) from action
>frame or just put the whole thing in a cabinet.

It would not be cost effective to remove parts for cleaning only.  The
entire action goes into the blaster.  It's takes a while to get used to the
blasting gun but imagine you are spray painting.  Try not to linger on
stubborn stains or on plated metal parts (such as action brackets).  The
bead-suction tube (hose) can be finicky at times to achieve a continuous
spray.  Learn to sense the feel of the beads flowing through the gun to
avoid wasting time blowing only compressed air.  Seems to be worse when the
humidity is high.

For cleaning keys, I made two trays out of plywood which hold 44 keys each.
The keys are held in place with wood wedges so they don't blow around
while being blasted.

Regards,

Stan Kroeker
Registered Piano Technician