Teflon bushings

[Newton Hunt]

Hi Fred,

If you are going to have to deal with teflon for the foreseeable ten
years I would break for the set of reamers, from you budget not your
pocket.

When replacing hammers and shanks use the Renner shanks only.  Current
New York made shanks are entirely too problematical to have to work
with short and long term.

I liked to bore my own hammers since I could bore a set to fit an
individual piano but mainly because I could shape the tail to a
precise functional geometry.  Tapering was always not satisfactory
until I got a table saw with sharp blade and designed a jib to cut
them properly.  One clue, make a pencil mark on each side of each
hammer, that way you can tell which side was tapered first.

One thing I wanted to try but didn't get the chance to was to taper
the hammers first _then_ bore them.  I think I might be able to get a
slightly better boring job that way.  Not sure but wanted to try.

Key bushing is critical to good piano performance.  Get the Spurlock
sets, they work the best.  Get super quality felts only and size the
holes properly.  Onesti has a real nice tool set for this job that is
outstanding.  Polish the key pins with Flitz, a German made metal
polish that is the best around...period.  Lubricate the pins _and_ the
bushings with a teflon spray (to adhere to the pins and to get deep
into the bushed holes).  Then fit each keys, one at a time, so each
works perfectly before going on to the next.  Absolutely no returning
to ease one or two later.

Get the Renner parts kit so you can fit and try the different sizes
and placements of knuckles.

Have fun.

		Newton