Teflon bushings

[Fred S. Sturm]

I seem to have clocked out for the holidays before many of the rest of 
you, so am rather late in getting to this thread. I have just a couple 
things to add.
	First, I certainly concur with Del Fandrich and Horace Greeley that the 
final teflon bushing product - the fat ones with the ridges - is quite 
serviceable, and quite possibly an improvement over felt. Oh, well! One 
caveat: machining must be precise to obtain the proper friction. I 
purchased the Steinway kit (about $40) from Steinway years ago, and it 
has .048, .049, .050 and .051 reamers. These are, in my experience, 
slightly too small, and produce too high a friction - three half swings 
in the high treble. I have dealt with this problem in an unsatisfactory 
way, "wallering" the reamers about in Newton Hunt's very apt parlance. I 
expect the .0005 tolerance straight reamers would solve the problem. 
Just haven't been motivated to pay the $$$. Are the ones supplied by 
Pianotek worth it? (multiple flutes, precision sized, etc?)
	The other comments I have concern the small, smooth teflon bushings, 
which I have the misfortune to deal with in my 12 B's of late 60's 
vintage. I have found many clicks originate between bushing and wood, 
easily solved by replacing with the ridged model (and a bit of glue 
sizing where appropriate). Changing to the larger size teflon seems 
rather troublesome to me: very difficult to maintain perfect alignment 
when drilling, leading to likely travelling problems. Maybe with a well 
made jig . . . but I hope to replace all the parts some time within the 
next ten years (at least I finally have a parts budget, however 
inadequate).

Regards,
Fred Sturm, RPT
University of New Mexico