Verdigris fix

[Tom Servinsky]

Susan,
I can say that pianos that have lived in Florida some of the most intense
verdigris I have yet seen.  It's not unusual to see not only the pin and
felt covered in verdigris, but the wood surrounding is also contaminated as
well. Proteck by itself will not help matters in these neck of the woods.
Tom Servinsky,RPT
----- Original Message -----
From: "Susan Kline" <sckline@home.com>
To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: Saturday, October 06, 2001 11:56 AM
Subject: Re: Verdigris fix


>
> >>s......I used Protek generously on the hammer flange bushings.  The
> >>action freed up nicely on both pianos.  One of the pianos was a "D"
which
> >>had not been played for 25 years and had been moved from Viginia (wet)
to
> >>Helena, MT (dry)   It would not play....hammers just dropped back
> >>slowly.  The Protek did the job and the piano has been in use regularly
> >>in St. Helena Cathedral ever since....6 years or so. The other is an "O"
> >>that I bought and sent to my daughter in Silverdale, WA.  It works just
> >>fine too.   One comment:  The swing check on the "B" showed some
variance
> >>in the friction, but it never did get much of the green stuff .... at
> >>least not as much as the ":D".  Haven't had any complaint from my
> >>daughter.  My 2$ worth.
> >>Dick RPT MT
>
> To add to the data: our family S&S A had verdigris from years and years in
> a Connecticut farmhouse. It came to me in California, and I rebuilt it
with
> help from Bob and Marcia Davis. We replaced the hammer flanges and shanks,
> but left the wippens. The action worked but had a somewhat sluggish
> feeling. It went to my sister in Colorado, and on a visit I repinned most
> of the wippen flanges. This was about five years ago, and it has been fine
> since.
>
> Example 2: a 1941 S&S A lived in South Carolina, and got extremely bad
> verdigris. When it got given to the Newport Arts Center, someone else
> repinned it, but it seized up within a year. I replaced the parts ... the
> point being that in Newport the humidity is somewhere between the high
40's
> and low 60's, and repinning was ineffective.
>
> My theory: verdigris forms much more readily in damp climates, but doesn't
> recur nearly as badly in dry ones. Possibly (just possibly) some old parts
> may be reusable if repinned or rebushed, once the piano has been taken to
a
> dry climate.
>
> Does anyone have any corroboration or contrary evidence? And does anyone
> have a Steinway which went to a very dry climate like Montana when young,
> and never developed any verdigris?
>
> Thanks --
>
> Susan
>