[pianotech] Acrilykey

[Laura Olsen]

Thanks, Douglas
I'll copy this and the thought from Joe and put them in the Acrilykey box!
Laura
On Sep 10, 2011, at 11:11 PM, Douglas Gregg wrote:

> 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