>Some have claimed to have had luck with black lights, UV lights, Mr. Sun >and >hydrogen-peroxide solutions for whitening ivory, but frankly, I've tried >these and they are not as effective as sanding. Plus, lighting fixtures >require electricity, and here in California, electricity is a very >expensive >commodity these days. The sun is free and this winter it should be in abundance where you are, it sure is here in Northern Calif.! Hydrogen-peroxide has to be strong enough to be of real value. I have tried two part wood bleach together with Mr. Sun and it works great. Then I use my little 1/6th sheet orbital sander (Bosch?) and a fine paper, sometimes as low as 240 grit silicon carbide, working my way up a few grits, (sometimes I can start directly with 400), finally a piece of white action cloth cut to fit the sander, spread with Mother's Mag and Aluminum Wheel polish. The polish is white and just the right grit for the ivory. Best stuff I ever found, and I've tried LOTS. All the work is done with the keys held together in a jig my dad made. > >>I'm on a quest for a quicker way to sand through the yellow staining and a >better way to polish the ivory with a method that produces less heat than a >buffing wheel. > >John Piesik, RPT >Oceanside, CA > I just finished putting new Vagias tops on a set for a local piano teacher. Some fifteen years ago I reglued a number of ivories for her and cleaned up the whole set, admonishing her that since the glue on many tops was starting to give out and quite a few tops were already off, that it would continue to be a problem. She could save herself some money by keeping a bottle of CA glue nearby and reattaching them as soon as one would fall off. So now about six more were off and she finally decided it was time for a new set. It was the single hardest set I ever removed!!!!! Many were brittle, it's true, but after all, she did get another 15 years life out of them. 72 pieces had been glued back on at various times in the past. And there was all kinds of glue residue. Some looked like CA, some like epoxy, several looked like Barges, some like spray adhesive, others like Titebond........ Glad that job's finished! Happy weekend all, Diane Diane Hofstetter 245-M Mount Hermon Rd.#343 Scotts Valley, CA 95066 ph 831-438-6222 fax 831-430-9741 dianepianotuner@hotmail.com _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com
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