To Keith McGavern and to whom it may concern<G> One reason I would never use soap on a tuning pin to try to tighten it up is that soap is basically contaminated glycerin. (mixture of fatty acids, leftover sodium or potassium hydroxide, lanolin? and definitely glycerin) The glycerin on a wood screw absorbs moisture and rusts and gets really sticky in the wood and naturally is hard to remove. I have gotten really upset with unthinking carpenters that applied soap to wood screws and then ruined the very reason for using screws in the first place. I think we all have dealt with rusted screws in pianos and swore up and down at the mess caused by said rusted screws. Question comes down to, why bother to remove the tuning pin if we already have glycerin based tuning pin dope that will do the job easier and with less chance of contaminating an already contaminated or hopeless block? I hope you understand I am not criticizing you in the least! I think the research is good to do but some research is unnecessary if we already know the ingredients. NWIM? David Lamoreaux, RPT Wash. DC Chapter PTG
This PTG archive page provided courtesy of Moy Piano Service, LLC