Some have been asking about bone keys. As with any product there is both good and bad bone, just like there is good and bad ivory, or good and bad synthetics. Some bone suppliers (like Nelson) grade it and price accordingly. Others (like the German companies) sell one product and leave it to the customer to grade it - so you have to pre-sort to get consistent keyboard covering, but it is a bit cheaper. Some bone will yellow, but not all, and most not as fast or as yellow as ivory goes. It does get dirtier fast, but that, too, depends on the quality. The best bone is not porous at all and looks almost like plastic. What Nelson sells as 'antique' grade is much cheaper and quite porous. I have heard that peroxide bleached bone gets yellower and more translucent (greasier ?) faster than bone bleached with slaked lime in the traditional fashion. The limed bone us is also whiter and easier to glue. Here is another case for buying a product of the best possible quality, but you have to know what to look for to know what exactly _is_ the best. The historical organ-building book by Dom Bedos contains a recipe for preparing bone for key coverings - messy business. Stephen Stephen Birkett Fortepianos Authentic Reproductions of 18th and 19th Century Pianos 464 Winchester Drive Waterloo, Ontario Canada N2T 1K5 tel: 519-885-2228 mailto: sbirkett@real.uwaterloo.ca http://real.uwaterloo.ca/~sbirkett
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