Keytop Mat'l, thickness + sspppppppelllllling

[Farrell]

----- Original Message -----
From: "Walter Gramza" <gramza@net.bluemoon.net>
To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: Thursday, November 23, 2000 8:36 PM
Subject: Re: Keytop Mat'l, thickness + sspppppppelllllling


> Most generally a thicker keytop of either .060 or .075 or possibly .095 is
> used because most of the old pianos had ivory on them and plastic of a
> thicker variety is generally available today and is much easier to keep
> clean and ivory is outlawed and if available would be so costly to us as
> the technician that we might have to take out a second mortgage on our
> houses to pay for the ivory and the customer would never be willing to pay
> the price to recover our cost let alone make any proffit on the job

snip

Pre-ban legal ivory is available in the U.S. My understanding is that the
source is from museum storage. The unfitted sliced ivory to cover one
keyboard costs about $600. Some guy in KC last year had a booth where he was
selling it. I've seen prices of about $3,000 to do the installation/fitting.
A lotta people like ivory and some have the money AND the piano to put it on
(now, if only I could find one or two of them!). I know Geers offers ivory
and bone http://www.geerspiano.com/

Terry Farrell
Piano Tuning & Service
Tampa, Florida
mfarrel2@tampabay.rr.com