Fw: cleaning center&front rail pins

[Kevin E. Ramsey]

Oops! Forgot to mention the fact that Jim's tool gets chucked into a 3/8"
drill!  Dang! I hate when that happens!
Kevin


----- Original Message -----
From: Kevin E. Ramsey
To: Pianotech
Sent: Sunday, March 02, 2003 6:56 PM
Subject: Re: cleaning center&front rail pins


Well, I suppose most people use Flitz on a cloth, wrapped around the pin and
pulled back and forth vigorously.

    What I've been doing for the past few years is a little different. I
have a little tool that Jim Coleman, JR makes that's a pin polisher. It's an
aluminum sleeve on a spindle in which you pack a whole bunch of balance rail
cloth punchings. I use it primarily on the balance rail pins.  The first
time I used it, I put some flitz down in it, and the result was some pretty
brass balance rail pins, since then I only use some CLP soaked into the
punchings. The crud on the pins will supply any abrasive I need. You can do
the entire set after removing the keys in less than five minutes.
    On the front rail, I use a dremel tool with the little felt polishing
wheels. I just put some CLP on the wheel, and buff both sides. It helps to
do the sharps from the back side of the frame. Doing it this way seems to
burnish the polymer into the metal of the pins while it does the polishing.
    We had one set of Steinway keys that were re-bushed and were too tight;
no side play. Before I eased the keys, I did this, and when I was done, I
found that easing the keys wasn't necessary, there was really no excess
friction. I figured that, with wear, there would be side play soon enough.
The piano never developed any problem, either, which seems to suggest that
the treatment was fairly permanent.
Kevin E. Ramsey