making key bushing cauls

[Greg Newell]

Ron,
         I use the Bushmaster system and find it to be, as you've said, an 
incredible waste of bushing cloth (much more that 3 times). I suspect that 
the Spurlock caul users are taught to use the same method I did before the 
Bushmaster. I used to lay the cloth over the mortise and when it touched 
the top of the opposite side of the mortise it was the correct length. The 
problem I always had with that was holding both ends of cloth immobile 
while pushing in the cloth which invariably tried to drag the cloth with it 
into the hole. I like the speed of the Bushmaster but really hate the waste.

Greg Newell





At 12:49 PM 11/15/2004, you wrote:

>>I'd like to see a side-by-side trial of the "Bushmaster" method and the
>>Spurlock system. I use the Spurlock system and love it, but I have never
>>tried the other. Anyone used both? Opinions? I recall can't imagine anything
>>slicker than the Spurlock system.
>>
>>Terry Farrell
>>
>>I've used both and have come up with a hybrid system: I use the Spurlock
>>system with hot hide glue, but with brass cauls.  The thickest brass caul is
>>used to hold the first bushing in place, the required size is used for the
>>other side.  Then I place a clothes iron (set on cotton) on top of the final
>>cauls.  This reactivates the hide glue, sizes the bushing hole in the key
>>and sets the cloth bushing to the caul.  Let stand over night. The key hole
>>sizing step is eliminated, as well as any easing.  Steaming the old bushings
>>out will also size the balance rail.
>>
>>Paul C
>
>In the late 70's, I made a tool that works somewhat like the Bushmaster, 
>copied from an existing tool someone had that originally came from who 
>knows where. Both of these tools lacked a means of indexing the depth of 
>the cloth, so my copy didn't work too well. For years, I used hide glue, 
>cauls, and two pieces of appropriate thickness cloth, inserted into the 
>mortise, caul inserted, and trimmed flush with the caul with a knife. This 
>worked, ok, with near zero waste of bushing cloth, but was hard to gage 
>the depth of the bushing in the mortise. Lately, I've used my old homemade 
>tool, re-modified with ears to index the cloth to proper depth (like the 
>Bushmaster). It's quick and wastes three times as much bushing cloth as is 
>glued in the keys. Unnecessary waste offends me, but the uniformity of the 
>job is just what I was after, so that's where I currently am.
>
>I suppose if I did key bushings on a weekly basis I might be doing it 
>differently, since it always seems to take me half a set to get 
>comfortable with it and in rhythm, this is easy and mindless enough a 
>system for me to run it. When I get tired of looking at my funky little 
>tool, or it finally falls apart and dies, I'll probably buy a Bushmaster.
>
>So how do you Spurlock method bushers index cloth depth, and are you happy 
>with the result?
>
>Ron N
>
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Greg Newell
Greg's piano Forté
mailto:gnewell@ameritech.net