Steven Hopp asked: "I have a client with a Steinway M with very nice ivory keys except for some discoloration *yellowing*, and two small cracks on the surface of two keys. I have watched the recent Klaviermacher posts on youtube, read the most recent journal articles Aug 08 and Sept. 08 on ivory repair and looked at Acrilikeys information. My question is what really should an ivory key feel like? The clients keys are VERY textured. I like the look of Klaviermachers' results but wonder if all the sanding still gives the correct tactile feel expected from real ivory? Is just "bleaching" enough to remove discoloration yet preserve the correct feel? And how does one repair the 1/4 inch cracks in the keys that have turned black? And no the black crack is not the joint of the tail and head (:" All help appreciated, Steven, Since I was the Beta tester for Acrilikey, from the start, I feel that it's the way to go for fixing chips and cracks. In your case, it is a crack that has picked up dirt, making it a black line. This is common with Ivory and especially on Steinways. (No clue why it happens so much more on Steinways.<G>) The proper way to fix the crack is to use a tool like a soundboard shimming tool to make a "v" groove out of the crack. After that was the key crack, several times with a dilute solution of water and bleach. I use Q-tips for this, as it's a bit more controllable. Once you have cleaned all of the "crud" out of the crack you can proceed to fill the "v" with acrilikey. I suggest letting it set up overnight, rather than as the instructions say.<G> It's a good idea to mask off under the key lip and along the crack. This will eliviate so much filing and sanding. Take it to the 600/1000 grit sandpaper to get it leveled and smoothed. Light buffing of the key only. Now to the next part of your questions. New Ivory Keys will have the "texture" almost as smooth as plastic. The "Textured" look/feel comes from people not washing their hands before playing the piano. The human is a very toxic thing. Our hands have natural oils and ACIDS on them, all the time. If handwashing is religiously done, this will eliminate the "Textured" look/feel. However, a lot of top notch pianists really like that look/feel. If you clean and buff the keys, (set), they all will be slippery. If you want to get the texture back you'll need to use a caustic substance to do that. I'll defer to the chemists in our midst, (there's got to be at least one.<G>), on that subject. As for the "discoloration", I have to ask what you consider "discoloration"? Most people think that ivory should be Bone White. That is not the natural color of Ivory! It is called Ivory for a reason and vice versa for the color Ivory.<G> If you have a client that insists on having the Bone White thing, then you will need to make a chamber with a special Flourescent light and get some special goggles to protect your eyes and some very strong Peroxide, (not the off the shelf stuff, but the strongest you can get from a Pharmysist). Richard Wagner wrote a very good article on this subject, several years ago, for the Journal. Best refer to that article for the real deal. The current articles in the PTJ were somewhat lacking, IMHO. Hope all this helps.<G>BTW, what the heck is "Klaviermacher"posts. Some kind of self proclaimed ex-spurt perhaps?<G> The best Expert, on this subject, is Bill Smith in Seattle Chapter. He took Ivory work to the nth degree!<G> Don't know if he ever wrote an article on it or not. Regards, Joe Joe Garrett, R.P.T. (Oregon) Captain, Tool Police Squares R I -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/pianotech.php/attachments/20091105/e0af558b/attachment-0001.htm>
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