rejuvenating key bushings with steam

[Avery Todd]

Fred & others,

   Sounds like it might be a very good 'trick' to have in ones' bag. I'll
have to try it soon. On very high use pianos, I've started to use leather
instead of felt to rebush so I won't have to do it again. At least anytime
soon. I've only done one, so far, but as I redo a piano I'm going to use
leather.
   Something I've wondered about but never tried yet, is using steam to
help pulley keys. After I steam out the bushings I almost always have to
ease the key a little at the balance hole. I use a pressure cooker on a hot
plate so it's a fairly small stream of steam. If the CR bushings were
protected, say with cauls, why wouldn't it work to steam the holes instead
of glue sizing? Sometimes that works and sometimes it doesn't. Am I
overlooking a downside? Just wondering.

Avery

> Summertime is time to experiment with some of those ideas that spring into
> the head while chasing pitch and unisons during the regular school year. I've
> just gone from being a contract tech here at the University of New Mexico
> (working about 1/4 time) to a regular half time position, so I am here during
> the summer without many tuning demands, and can broaden my horizons a bit.
> Here's something I tried recently:
>
> For some time I have been intrigued by the idea of using steam to rejuvenate
> other packed felts in addition to hammers. I’m sure we all have noticed when
> steaming out key bushing felts that many of the felts we are removing look as
> “good as new” due to the action of the steam.
>
> The short length of time a key rebush job lasts in a heavy use institutional
> environment is daunting. How often can we afford to rebush? Every five years
> or less? That’s unreasonable, at least in my situation. So I thought I’d
> experiment with the possibility of rejuvenating key bushings with steam, and
> was very impressed with the results. In conjunction with replacing a few
> individual bushings with excessively high wear (where keys are badly angled),
> it looks like the life of a set of bushings can be extended considerably.
> As long as I was steaming and had the keys out, I thought I’d try re-lofting
> the front rail felt punchings as well, with equally satisfactory results.
>I’ll
> run through my procedure as follows:
>
SNIP
>
>Regards,
>Fred Sturm, RPT
>University of New Mexico