steam and heat, was RE: amazing, but true

[Roger Jolly]

Hi Fred,
              Being one of those guys  that has played with steam in 
various forms, once you understand the limitations it's a valuable 
tool.  Key bushing cauls and steam works well to get a fast improvement for 
minimum dollars.  It also firms up the B/R hole at the same time.
Another little dirty trick, that is fast for a big improvement, is too flex 
the B/R pin forward, with an awl.  Support the rear of the key with one 
hand, insert the awl behind the pin and pull forward 2 to4mm this will take 
the pin out of the cup, and firm the action up considerably. Cheat on the 
front rail pins with a small twist.  Then sell the bushing job.  We do a 
lot of re bushing because the customer notices a dramatic improvement.  and 
we point out that this is only a temporary fix.
Stalls re bushing for a year or so. Handy with limited budgets.

Regards Roger




At 07:29 AM 7/25/2003 -0600, you wrote:
>Hi Isaac,
>         I agree that re-fluffing felts, whether keybushing, wippen heel 
> or other, doesn't constitute "real re-conditioning," in the sense I would 
> use that in dealing with individual customers. And the effectiveness of 
> steaming is a lot less with older felt, whether because of loss of 
> resilience or wear.
>         I look on these techniques as a way of taking a relatively small 
> amount of time to maintain as new a feel as possible in a piano for as 
> long as possible. Mostly I'm talking about a fairly new piano, or 
> bushings that are within five to ten years old. After one to five years, 
> a bushing job that was initially firm has usually started to feel sloppy. 
> Removing the keys, steam-sizing the bushings, polishing and lubing the 
> pins, all together this will improve the performance of the piano, 
> keeping it at a high level longer. ANd I think brushing, steaming, 
> ironing and lubing (powdered teflon is what I use) the wipp cushions, 
> together with polishing and lubing the capstans, is another good way to 
> prolong the high level of performance. I'm talking about a couple extra 
> hours work, here, and my experience so far tells me it is a worthwhile 
> investment.
>         The ideal for institutional maintenance is to keep pianos in 
> "like new," top condition, all the time. With private customers, it is 
> far more likely that the piano deteriorates a good bit more before they 
> are willing to invest  money for a "reconditioning." At which time I 
> would be far more likely to rebush and replace wipp cushion felt.
>
>Regards,
>Fred Sturm
>Universidad de Nuevo Mexico
>
>
>--On Wednesday, July 23, 2003 11:26 AM +0200 Isaac sur Noos 
><oleg-i@noos.fr> wrote:
>
>>I've find that steaming the whippen heel does not stay very long,
>>probably once the fiber have been crushed it is not as stiff, it
>>helps, but it is a temporary fix. Indeed you should believe that with
>>a fast steam pass you will not have to regulate the hammer travel, but
>>you will have to do it - months later so it is not so good in the end.
>>
>>I only tried that on a few instruments (4 or  5) are others
>>experimenting the same results ?
>>
>>I've done that on mortises too, on recent ones this should be a
>>possibility, but the material stay fragile if it is on old keys.
>>It can help but it is not a real reconditioning job in my opinion I
>>will see an old instrument I've done this last year (time for new
>>bushings this year) .
>>
>>The felt after some wear is less strong, the trick is probably good
>>for recent parts only.
>>
>>For damper felts it may be interesting to clean or rejuvate them.
>>
>>Another thing we should consider is that many bushing cloths actually
>>are not wool and cotton, (or wool and silk !) I don't know for sure if
>>nylon is reacting to the vapor, but one may consider it.
>>
>>Best Regards
>>
>>
>>
>>Isaac OLEG
>>
>>Entretien et reparation de pianos.
>>
>>PianoTech
>>17 rue de Choisy
>>94400 VITRY sur SEINE
>>FRANCE
>>tel : 033 01 47 18 06 98
>>fax : 033 01 47 18 06 90
>>cell: 06 60 42 58 77
>>
>>>-----Message d'origine-----
>>>De : caut-bounces@ptg.org [mailto:caut-bounces@ptg.org]De la part de
>>>Mary Smith
>>>Envoye : mardi 22 juillet 2003 22:17
>>>A : College and University Technicians
>>>Objet : Re: steam and heat, was RE: amazing, but true
>>>
>>>
>>>Hi Fred,
>>>
>>>I like your idea about fluffing and ironing wippen heel
>>>cloth, which
>>>I was just contemplating on a Baldwin recondition.
>>>
>>> > Especially on Steinways, with the tiny jack tail "nub" (is there a
>>> > correct term for this?),
>>>
>>>I believe the term is jack "tender." Is that like a chicken
>>>tender? I
>>>agree that  uneven wear on let-off punchings is annoying, but have
>>>found just replacing them to be pretty quick and painless. You can
>>>slice them off with everything in place and reglue with
>>>white or PVA
>>>glue without even removing the top action from the keys (if you're
>>>careful).
>>>
>>>Also liked the method you've outlined for steaming key bushings. I
>>>would imagine that a just little bit of steam does the trick - too
>>>much could be a bad thing! The Pianotek sizing cauls are quite
>>>accurate, and I like to use them to finesse the easing of a
>>>rebushing
>>>job as well.
>>>
>>>Mary
>>>--
>>>_______________________________________________
>>>caut list info: https://www.moypiano.com/resources/#archives
>>
>>_______________________________________________
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>
>
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