hard leather

[Les Smith]

The "mink oil" treatment will only provide temporary relief. In the end
you're going to have to replace the bushings anyway. The tanning process
removes the natural oils from leather and mink oil is a traditional treat-
ment to restore those lost oils and make the leather soft and pliable
again. Only the mink oil available today is usually only about 15% real
mink oil and the rest is beef tallow and zinc sterate. Secondly the bush-
ings are glued with the shiny or finished side of the leather facing the
pin which will limit the absorption of the "mink oil" by the leather. So,
in the end, you're going to have to "bite the bullet" and rebush. For-
tunately it's a relatively easy job that pays well.

Les Smith
lessmith@buffnet.net

On Tue, 3 Sep 1996, Joel A. Jones wrote:

> I recently had an experience with leather bushings that had become hard.
> If you moved the keys from side to side the clicking sounded as if there
> was no busing, only wood.  The sound of a glissando was pretty amazing. The
> piano is in a teachers condo where she humidifies and dehumidies the
> studio.  Other than the leather problem the piano is in top condition and
> serviced regularly.
>          Following advice from several sources, I bought some mink oil from
> our local leather store and put several applications on the bushings, which
> seemed to lessen the clicking somewhat.  By turning the front pins the
> noise was acceptable, but I'm not pleased with the final product.
>          I suspect this problem will return in the near future. Has anyone
> had any experience with;   1. applying mink oil to soften the leather
> bushing.    2. longevity of the treatment.
>         Thanks for any suggestions anyone may have.
>
>
>