[pianotech] Acrilykey

[Douglas Gregg]

Laura,
The Acrylikey repairs with the original monomer or with CA glue hold
up very well and does not pick up dirt. It makes are a nice permanent
repair. If you get the color match good the first time, it will stay
that way. Even if you don't get the color perfect, if the repair chip
is feathered out as recommended, the color change is gradual and does
not stand out. That means to file the square edge to a make a gentle
valley that goes about 1/16 inch or more back into the good ivory.
This is a bit counter-intuitive as it make s the repair area bigger,
but it works. since the ivory and the acryikey material are both
somewhat transparent,  the taper makes for a transition of light
transmission that is less noticeable.

I did a fancy Chickering with full ivories. That is, it had no heads
and tails. They were all one piece, so replacing it was not an option.
These are rare. On the first try, the repair was not a perfect match.
I was about to redo it when the customer came in and asked which key
it was I repaired. She looked pretty carefully and did not see it, so
I figured it was good enough.

The most important thing is to carefully shape the surface of the
repair with the fine side of the finger nail file and then polish it
with a fine abrasive cleaner. I like White Diamond polish which I also
use on brass. It is amazing on metal and also on ivories and plastics.
It is important to get the texture the same in the repair as the in
the ivory. If not, it might show up later when dirt gets trapped in
scratches. It is not hard to polish it out and it is really important.

Douglas Gregg
Classic Piano Doc