[pianotech] Perma free II

[Don Mannino]

I'm wondering if everyone is thinking of old Steinways with gummy centers -
??  From the way people are righting they seem to be talking about the
actions with so called 'vertigris' in the centers.

I have repinned a few of the "Permafree II" actions, and have very good
success with it, no recurring tightness at all.  I remember doing 2 in the
late 80s, and the last one I did was in 2002, I think, in a fairly new 'B'
and it is still performing great as far as I know (I talked to the pianist
just 2 months ago and he said the piano is working well for him, although am
not servicing it any more).

It's important not to rough up the cloth too much, of course.  I used my
broaches without any problem, but did a lot of burnishing after the reaming
step - swinging each hammer quite a bit to settle the felt.

Then again, this piano moved from a fairly mildly humid location (coastal LA
area, where the repinning was done) to a more dry location (Palm Springs),
so maybe the dryness has kept it from tightening up.

The total job for one rail should be less than 4 hours.  It's worth doing it
well.

Don

-----Original Message-----
From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf
Of David Love
Sent: Wednesday, September 26, 2012 10:12 AM
To: pianotech
Subject: [pianotech] Perma free II

I've got a Steinway action that is seizing everywhere: jacks, hammer
flanges, etc. Anyone found a good controllable solution short of repinning
everything or changing parts? I know, alcohol/water w/ heat is the
recommended approach but it produces very inconsistent results in the hammer
flanges in my experience.
David Love
www.davidlovepianos.com
(sent from bb)