Verdigris fix

[Farrell]

I have only met one Steinway with verdigris that I have had the opportunity
to try and improve. The piano is in Tampa, Florida. This was a 1920s M owned
by an elderly lady who was not about to rebuild anything. The action was
like someone soaked it in molasses - SSSLLLOOOOOOOWWWWW!. Upon inspection of
the centers, it looked like little bright green Christmas trees protruding
out from each action center. I told her about replacing action components.
No was she indicated. I told her about Protek, but results were variable and
that she should not expect long-lasting results. She chose to have me douse
the action centers with Protek. She called me on another matter after about
a year and said the action was still working freely. Go figure.

Terry Farrell

----- Original Message -----
From: "Tom Servinsky" <tompiano@gate.net>
To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: Saturday, October 06, 2001 10:58 PM
Subject: Re: Verdigris fix


> 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
> >
>