Paul, I think you answered your own question here. In my world, if I'm charging good money for complete action reconditioning/rebuilding, key frame felts/punchings are the first thing to go. Relative to new Action parts, felts cost is nothing, re-regulating the action will be necessary anyway, so the arguments that make sense to me for KEEPING the old felts disappear very quickly. And no, I wouldn't recommend replacing just one or two felts either. If something ate them, what are the odds the rest are contaminated as well? Probably pretty good. Just replace them all, they're cheap. I would be cautious about using "time saved later" arguments for not doing more complete work up the line. Sometimes the argument is valid, but I think most often the danger is that it encourages one to be less thorough. Absolutely replace hammer rail cloth and totally clean/polish the action frame. Flitz works well for polishing the rails. I've used the products from NY, and I have no problems with the key frame felts. The hammer rail cloth is a bit thick to my taste, and I would rather use string braid. Personal preference. Paul, in my opinion, yes, all this matters. Aesthetics ARE important to me. When you've taken all the action parts off this thing, now is the time to get it cleaned, polished - like new. No one is going to be removing these parts anytime soon, and it just makes sense to replace/clean all the associated items at the same time - make the job complete. I love being able to return an action to a client and have them just glance at it and say, "WOW." They don't understand much of what we do without explanation, but they do understand "polish." You won't ever disappoint a client by being thorough. My 3 cents (I'm a little sharp today). ;-] William R. Monroe On Wed, Nov 11, 2009 at 8:41 PM, Paul Milesi <paul at pmpiano.com> wrote: > I am beginning to recondition/rebuild a 1915 Steinway M action with all > new action parts (verdigris). Now that I’ve removed the keys for cleaning > and bushing, I have taken a close look at the frame. While the pins look > fine (cleaning and polishing should do nicely), the felt punchings are > “ratty,” with evidence of moth infestation. While the front rail felts were > barely touched, the balance rail are pretty bad, with the first one or two > on either end almost gone, and even some very small holes in the ones toward > the center. The backrail cloth also has been moth-eaten. I could probably > “get away” with leaving it, but this is not my style or quality of work. > > In the past, with one exception, I have used the original frame felts when > doing an action job, mostly because they were pianos that were only 20-30 > years old, and the felts were fine, no real reason for replacing them as far > as I could see. But this job has me wondering whether to leave felts on any > job now. What is the thinking on this? If you’re charging good money for > full action reconditioning, should you be replacing the frame felts as a > matter of course, or at discretion? The best reason I can think of for > leaving originals in place if they’re OK is that it saves a lot of time > spent key leveling, etc.. Is this OK? > > I have never replaced an isolated felt or two on a full action job, but am > now wondering whether that is “acceptable practice?” Certainly not “best > practice.” At least not for “complete action reconditioning/rebuilding.” > > Finally, when I do replace these felts, anybody have strong > feelings/recommendations about the felt I use? I’ll be using Steinway > hammers, shanks, flanges & wippens. Although I’ve got bags full of felt and > paper punchings from a major supply house, I am inclined to order punchings > and backrail cloth from Steinway because of things I’ve read regarding > relative firmness of various punchings. Thoughts or recommendations? > > Lastly, what about the felt strip on the hammer rail? This one seems to be > OK, but of course not “shiny and new.” :) Would “you guys” cut off the old > felt and replace with new? That means you have to cut the new strip, since > you can’t get it under the brackets like the original. I have and would use > the new black strip from Steinway with the adhesive. > > Does worrying about all this matter? I was taught the visual aesthetic is > just as important as the functional. Is that the consensus? Do we go to > the nth degree? Where do you draw the line? I’ve done a couple jobs that > really “drowned me,” but I got results. > > This is for a very high-end private client in Washington, DC, with the > piano in a spectacular cotemporary home. The piano’s been in the family for > two, maybe three, generations, moved around, etc. Keytops were replaced > with plastic about 25 years ago, good job, but not much else of substance > done. Case is in very good condition, board, bridges, etc. look fine. > > I’m acquiring invaluable knowledge by monitoring and participating in the > Pianotech and CAUT lists! Thanks to all who contribute! > > Paul > -- > Paul Milesi > Registered Piano Technician (RPT) > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... 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