Protecting plain wire from rust

[Mark Schecter]

Hi, Tom.

Thanks for writing. The vaseline idea is interesting. I have two
concerns about it. The more minor one is, are the strings at all gummy,
and do they attract or collect dust? Not that it would be very much, but
let's say, ten years down the line, are they still shiny? Do you ever
renew the coating, and if so, what do you do about the area
around/between the tuning pins?

The other concern is, since vaseline is a petroleum product that we know
melts with even very slight heat, could there ever be contamination of
the pin block? I suppose you're using so little, you wouldn't expect it,
but it seems worth asking anyway.

Also, I wonder whether any manufacturers do anything to treat plain
wire, especially when the piano is destined for a humid environment?
With so many pianos being made in Asia, I would think that rust would be
a concern right from the beginning. What about the wire and pins they
store for manufacturing?

As far as using Protek being more expensive, I wonder just how much it
would really cost per piano? When I have used it prior to tuning, I've
been using the liquid on a piece of felt as a spreader. But I guess you
could just as easily make your oil cloth with (what is it?) MPL.

That brings to mind the question of active ingredients. With vaseline,
it's the grease that's doing the protecting. With Protek liquid, it's
Teflon (presumably). With Protek MPL, I suppose it would be both. What I
like about the Protek liquid is, there is no grease involved, even if
it's more expensive.

So anyway, thanks for your thoughts!

-Mark

Tom Servinsky wrote:
> Mark,
> Make yourself a small  oil cloth by working a small amt. of Vaseline in 
> a small piece of fabric ( T-shirt material). Simply wipe the string with 
> the oil cloth just prior to installation and the string will remain 
> looking new even through bad tropical  conditions.
> We live in the tropics where hurricanes have wrecked havoc in our area 
> over the past 2 years. Where most pianos strings rusted out due to the 
> excessive salt exposure, the pianos we have rebuilt using this methods 
> came out squeaky clean.
> There doesn't seem to be an adverse affect on tonal and string behavior 
> using this method.
> I idea of using Protek has crossed my mind however the cost vs the 
> Vaseline doesn't make good economic sense.
> Tom Servinsky
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Mark Schecter" <schecter at pacbell.net>
> To: "Pianotech" <pianotech at ptg.org>
> Sent: Saturday, March 25, 2006 12:15 AM
> Subject: Protecting plain wire from rust
> 
> 
>> Hi, all. Here's something I've been wondering about.
>>
>> In pianos with rusty strings, I use Protek on the strings where they 
>> pass under the capo, and where they pass through the agraffes, as well 
>> as on the counterbearing felt, to help ease rendering. It works, and 
>> seems to keep on working for at least a few months, maybe longer. I 
>> have often wondered if there is any substance (such as, oh, maybe, 
>> Protek?) that people use on clean, shiny strings to prevent rust or 
>> tarnish ever developing? I could imagine taking whole rolls of wire 
>> and dipping it in a bath of XYZ-stuff before stringing, or sponging it 
>> on in the piano.
>>
>> We are instructed to coat practically every other metal surface in 
>> every device in our lives (think car) with something or other, so why 
>> not piano strings? I guess we could expand the question to include 
>> copper-wound bass strings, too, if anyone has any thoughts about 
>> those. I'm interested to hear people's ideas.
>>
>> -Mark Schecter
>>
> 
> 
>