Dear Richard and List, The best approach I have found for squeaking knuckles is to remove any old lubricants which may be adding to the problem, then apply new, super duper lubricants. Old lubricants should not be much of a problem on a new piano, but occasionally someone has already gotten to the knuckles with some sort of tragic graphite stick. Remove old lubricants from knuckles by soaking them with naptha ( observe safety rules here for fire and breathing vapors), then rubbing off the contaminants with a terrycloth handtowel, repeating as necessary until they are clean. Allow several hours for them to dry thoroughly. If the repetition levers and jack tops seem gunked up, clean them also with a naptha soaked rag. The best lubrication I have found is a one two punch combination of teflon powder on the knuckles, and McLube spray on the rep levers/jacks. Raise the nap on the knuckles with a fine brass bristle brush, then apply generous amounts of the teflon powder sold by Bill Spurlock. I used to apply it sparingly, then observed a friend realiy pile it on and achieve lower friction levels. Transfer the powder to the knuckle leather using a spare piece of leather which has had the powder sprinkled onto it and spread out gently. Rub it in well. Any sloppy looking excess can be vacuumed off. Spray McLube 444A (clear, superslippery) on the rep levers/jack tops. It can be purchased directly from the company in case lots at 800 2 MCLUBE. This combination seems to work well and for a long time. Steve Schell stfrsc@juno.com On Tue, 19 Nov 1996 23:27:50 -0800 rjwag@pacifier.com (Richard Wagner) writes: >Here's a question I promised to pass on to the list from a fellow >technician. >He'd do it himself but he's currently modem-less. > >"What is the best, and most permanent, way to silence squeaking >knuckles on >new grand pianos?" > >Thanks for any help. > > Richard Wagner RPT > > > > >
This PTG archive page provided courtesy of Moy Piano Service, LLC