Hello, I also sand the keys flat, if a lot of sanding is due I use an orbital sander hold vertically in a support, (320 grit) then I finish with 400-800 grit (or 400-600) final pass by hand, orbital tend to live little round marks, but it is really fast and OK for the hard part of the job, even on that it takes some time with some ivory to get the surface clean . Final polishing is done with cottons wheels I have no good results with felt wheels. One cotton more abrasive than the other - it is in a professional polishing machine now, runs at 2800 rpm, I cant give a lot of feedback as the machine is recent, and I find it to bee dangerous because too fast for me, with the 30 cm diameter cottons. Before, I used my polishing machine hold in a support, it worked well. Stephen that worked in jewelry, said me that he uses very special sanding/polishing cloth made in Japan, that you wash in water after use. These products are very expensive (around 300$ for a complete grit set) . They are used for final polishing of glasses, and I was said the ivory does not need polishing if those are used. I can ask more details (name, brand) if some are interested. I have no experience with bone keytops, have been said that they get attacked by the acidity of the fingers, then they tend to get porous and too dirty. I like the look, a little grayish may be, but did not find them to buff as well as ivory, I have a friend that made a keyboard covered with bone, and it was not very shiny. BTW I've find a linen abrasive cloth quality with grit around 400-600, it worked well to clean corroded strings - no brand, may be 3M does that. Greetings Isaac > -----Message d'origine----- > De : caut-bounces@ptg.org [mailto:caut-bounces@ptg.org]De > la part de C. > E. Hood > Envoyé : lundi 5 janvier 2004 01:55 > À : caut@ptg.org > Objet : Polishing keytops > > > Hi all - I'm in the middle of a tedious task, doing the > latest fortepiano. The keytops are covered with bone, and > it's all filed and sanded flat on a belt sander using the > finest grit I can obtain, 230. I then hand sand with 400 & > 600 wet and dry, then 1600micron paper. Then to the > buffing wheel, a hard felt one, using the usual white > keytop polish. Takes a long time to get an adequate shine. > I've done this with ivory too, about the same in all ways to work. > Anybody have experience with doing this? any > comments? how do you proceed? I've done it for years but > would love to streamline the process. There are no books > or pamphlets on this as far as I know, just brain-picking, > which I do from time to time. I'll also ask the > harpsichord & fpo lists. > Best, Margaret Hood > www.fortepianos.pair.com > > _______________________________________________ > caut list info: https://www.moypiano.com/resources/#archives >
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