Replacement Keys?

[Kenneth Sloane]

To All- Quite a few years ago when I worked at Oberlin, we experimented 
with making inlays for worn out key bushing holes. We came to the 
conclusion that maple was not very forgiving. When easing/enlargening the 
holes to compensate for tightness, it was very easy to go from too tight to 
too loose. We found poplar to work well as the inlay material, and I'm sure 
a tight-grain sugar pine would also work well.

We also came to the conclusion that restoring extremely worn keys was not 
worth while. Given all the labor necessary to replace tops, sharps, 
buttons, build up worn sides, rebush fronts, etc., etc., it was better to 
get a new set of keys.

Ken Sloane

==========================================
--On Wednesday, March 7, 2001 9:17 AM -0600 jolly roger 
<baldyam@sk.sympatico.ca> wrote:

> Hi John,
>               If you are thinking of replacing the keys, may be this is an
> opportunity to experiment.
> As ther will be nothing to lose.
> Take a few of the worst keys, and mark the centre line of the balance rail
> hole. use a set square to mark the centre line up the sides of the keys.
> Router off 1/8" of material 4" either side of the hole. Make a maple shoe
> to fit in the cut out area.
> The marks on the side of the of the keys will keep you right as to where
> to drill the new BR holes.
> Drill BR hole to correct size, lightly counter sink hole top and bottom
> for 1/16" parallel wall.
> Glue the shoe and test for improvement.
> The best keys in the business for minimum action saturation has to be the
> Baldwin SD10 keys,with the extra long shoes top and bottom.
> I have modified an old grand with very badly worn key sticks, it took me 2
> days to do the set.
> I spent another day figureing out how to do it.  <G>
> If the BR rollers are the main cause of problems, changing the keys will
> not help.  Fix this before you try any thing else.
> I would do a few keys as it could effect what you order for your new set.
> Sugar pine vs other materials, inset shoes, etc. There are several options
> from the key makers.
> Some musings from a die hard tinkerer.
> Regards Roger
>
>
>
>
> At 10:49 PM 3/6/01 -0600, you wrote:
>>	The piano is a D that suffers from "power loss" on some notes. In
>> some instances, the harder you hit the key, the less sound you get! So, I
>> pull the action and check to see if the tails are hanging up on the
>> backchecks. I notice an unusual amount of flex in the key itself. Upon
>> close inspection I see the balance rail buttons have been replace with
>> what looks like poplar, not a strong wood. Some of the buttons "give"
>> when you attempt to flex the key by pushing down on the key front while
>> holding the hammer down, or holding the back of the key down. I think
>> the keys have lost their strength and would like to test my theory by
>> having a new set of keys made. The theory applies to concert instruments
>> that are older and may have seen many years of heavy usage. I believe
>> wood can fatigue when stressed to it's limits repeatedly.
>>
>> John Minor
>> University of Illinois
>>
>>
>>
>> On Tue, 6 Mar 2001, Avery Todd wrote:
>>
>> ]John & List,
>> ]
>> ]I have 2 Kluge keyboards (one in bone) from Kluge through the
>> ]Rappaport's on complete rebuilding jobs. Both seem to be fine,
>> ]although the bone is beginning to yellow considerably and I'm
>> ]not sure yet how to "whiten" them up some.
>> ]
>> ]I'm curious as to why you're replacing the keys. Really old
>> ]and in bad shape? The reason I'm asking is I'm going to have
>> ]to do something in the near future about the keyboard on our
>> ]Hamburg D. It's only about 18 yrs. old or so but the ivories
>> ]are getting very thin and sharp edged in the front and the
>> ]edges of the sharps are more rounded than a lot of people
>> ]like.
>> ]
>> ]Because of the age, I've considered sending them to be
>> ]recovered rather than replace the whole keyboard. However, if
>> ]they were recovered, I'd definitely want someone who could do
>> ]a really top notch job!
>> ]
>> ]Also, how do the prices compare between Kluge and Bob. Just
>> ]curious.
>> ]
>> ]Opinions? Recover or replace? Thanks.
>> ]
>> ]Avery
>> ]
>> ]>I'd like to have a set of replacement keys made for one of our D's and
>> ]>wondered if anyone could steer me in the right direction. I know
>> Pianotek ]>does keys, as well as Kluge. Anyone have experience with
>> either of these? ]>
>> ]>Thanks
>> ]>
>> ]>John Minor
>> ]>University of Illinois
>> ]
>>
>