A while back I was doing quite a lot of acrylikey repairs on ivory and some on plastic. I agree that it is harder to match plastic, especially the pure white stuff. The white bottle is not white enough. Here are three tips for using the material. 1. I took a used ivory tail and ground 7 notches in the edge and made a color test strip by varying the amounts of white and beige coloring: all white, 3:1, 2:1, 1:1, 1:2, 1:3, and all beige. It is the same way your dentist would check the color of your tooth when making a crown. It takes much of the guesswork out of it. 2. I got some 1/8 inch thick polyethylene from Small Parts.com and made some square blocks as wide and high as the front of the key. I tape one of these under the overhanging ivory to keep the resin from slumping or falling off before it sets. the polyethylene will not stick to the acrylikey resin. It gives a nice clean square edge under the overhang. I have been able to replace the entire overhang using this technique. 3. I find the resin in the kit sets up too fast to do much sculpting. I found that medium viscosity CA glue works great as the resin and is readily available. The dollar store type in small tubes seemed to have a nice viscosity and set time. The more expensive kinds set too quickly. I know this sounds like some kind of heresy, but cyanoacrylic turns into acrylic plastic when it sets and that is the same as the resiin in the kit as far as I can see. Anyway, I like it better and after 4 years, I have never had a repair fail or chip out. Doug Gregg Classic Piano Doc
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