Mike Morvan wrote: > We have had piano and organ keyboards in our shop this year less > than a decade old made in Germany, England, China and the United States > all with bushing failure and nightmare scenarios of removing PVA, EVA, > hot melt and yes, double sided tape which are used at the production > level for bushing installation. > Off my soap box now. Please use hide glue, pretty please. Mike > > Blackstone Valley piano > Michael A. Morvan I've said it before. There's no apparent evidence that the old manufacturers gave a flying hoot if their glue was reversible. The notion of someone rebuilding an old piano that would cost them sale of a new one would likely have made them less than happy. They used what they had, were familiar with, and knew to work. That was hot hide glue. Today's manufacturers are for the most part equally uninterested in what some rebuilder finds when he tries to strip bushings, felt, or anything else. The difference is that they have more choices for gluing the stuff on, and have the option of choosing glues and materials that will more or less guarantee that these pianos won't be rebuilt - ever. So while we have the luxury of it being possible to steam or soak off existing glues with minimal damage, I agree, please use hot hide glue for felt work on wood. The other day, I stripped a set of key bushings that appeared to have not been the originals. They steamed out easily and cleanly, without taking wood with them, as they will again when someone replaces the bushings I installed in their place. Go hide! Ron N
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