Adhesives

[Nancy McMillan]

Clyde wrote:

> Last week for the first time I used Vagias plastic replacement heads (the
first
> time I tried this) on an old upright piano that has relatively little
value.  It
> needed nineteen keytops and should have had a full set of new plastic
keytops,
> but that didn't seem advisable here and the client didn't want to spend
the
> money.
>
> Vagias recommends spraying the backs of the keytops with white lacquer,
which I
> did, then using water-based contact cement.  I was unable to find any, so
I used
> Weldwood Contact Cement, which is not water-based.  I spread it thinly
with a
> small (3/8") flat brush on both the keytop and the wood of the key and let
it dry
> at least ten minutes, then pressed them together.  There was a brush in
the
> bottle but I was unable to control the amount of glue when I tried to use
it.
> Again, the plus here is the instant bond and no clamping needed, which is
also of
> course a minus if you don't get it right the first time.  I was quite
satisfied
> with this method of gluing the keytops and may continue using it for those
> one-at-a-time replacements.
>
> Up to this time I had usually used CA and accelerator, which as Bill
mentioned
> results in a very weak bond.  Thoughts, anyone?

Hi Clyde,
I have been using the contact cement method for those one-off keytop repairs
for years and they are all still holding.
See ya,
Doug Mahard