This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment Michael Morvan said: "The quality of the keytop, quality of the =3D piano, quality of the rebuild, preference of the customer, knowledge and = =3D preference of the technician and budget. Crappy "molded" keytops are =3D nice if applied properly, and three thousand dollars worth of new ivory = =3D is "crappy" if not applied properly. Molded keytops have the advantage = =3D of being inexpensive, uniform in shape and appearance, and relatively = =3D easy to apply with minimal skill, tooling and yields fair results. A = =3D disadvantage is that many people feel that they are a cheap top and as a = =3D result do not use them." Michael, What you've said, I agree with. However, it's what you didn't say about = moulded keytops that concerns me. 1. Moulded keytops assumes that all key sets are the same dimension, = which they are not. Therefore, trimming is necessary. Here lies the rub, = as trimming of moulded keytop material is far more difficult than other = materials. Especially in making the key set look consistant and have a = smooth feel under the players hands. Secondly, if you've ever had to = (try) to buff out scratches of moulded key top material, (and I'm sure = you have, if you do keytops for a living.), it's next to impossible, as = the material is too soft and will "burn/gaul" when even light pressure = on a buffing wheel is applied. I'm not saying it can't be done, but it's = a royal pain in the patoot to do!<G> Lastly, my aversion to moulded = keytops is that it is too thick, especially for many older pianos with = tight tolerances of the piano furniture. This requires milling the = keystick down. I am totally averse to this practice for many reasons. = Some of the "moulded keytop material" from Europe is better as some of = it is what we call "Plexiglass". This material can be sanded and buffed. = It's still too thick for my eye.<G> I too do keytops, but as only part = of my overall service to my clients. I used to have someone else do it, = as I really don't like the stink in my shop. Out of frustration with = others I've taken to doing it....stink or not.<G> Regards, Joe Garrett, R.P.T. Captain, Tool Police Squares R I ---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: https://www.moypiano.com/ptg/pianotech.php/attachments/a0/e7/e9/47/attachment.htm ---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment--
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