[pianotech] teflon

[atrav27 at att.net]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: Heritage Pianos

A local technician has recently made claims to the contrary
and warned other members of the local PTG to use Teflon.

===============

Only my opinion here, so completely unofficial. ;o)

If Teflon is bad, I'm in trouble. I use it for where grease would be too thick, and where oil would 
be too thin, where I would prefer something 'dry' like places you'd use graphite. IMO it's good for 
something that is not going to be touched again in a very long time, some place where I think oil 
would evaporate eventually, and I use it for anti-corrosion with strings and such.

I use DuPont Teflon ChainSaver. It does have solvents, so I usually spray it on a q-tip or paper 
towel first, then wipe. It is very slippery when dry, but no oily or greasy feel, more like 
something very polished. I like the ChainSaver because it has molybdenum too, so that helps keep 
things slippery for a long time (like I wrote, for things that may never be touched again for years 
or decades). So, I use it primarily for the rail key pins, for lube and I see lots of corrosion 
consistently in the rail pins (I'm in humid Florida), and as a wipe on the strings for anti 
corrosion. It does seem to provide a real Teflon coating, so good for anti-dust too, once again it's 
nice to have a lube that is 'dry' so you don't get dust and dirt sticking to it.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/DuPont-Teflon-Chain-Saver-11-oz/16672659

I don't use it for anti-corrosion at the tuning pins because it REALLY is very thin and slippery 
when first applied, so I can imagine creating a loose tuning pin as a result. It dries in about a 
minute. Doesn't feel waxy to me, but they say once dry you end up with a wax-moly-Teflon coating.

-Aron-

PS, for grease, especially for brass (castors and pedals), I prefer 'SuperLube' synthetic grease. 
Doesn't seem to damage/soften wood like petroleum greases, it'll make leather soft but doesn't seem 
to damage it. So for the various combinations of high clearance pedal parts that combine brass to 
wood to leather, it works a treat, and lasts.
http://www.acehardware.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3506761