Another question...

[Roger Jolly]

Hi Rob,
        Just soak them in luke warm water for an hour, the glue and
splinters will just wipe off. Dry the with a soft cloth. and then stack
them in bundles of about a dozen and clamp between to blocks of wood to
prevent any curling. Remember Ivory is quite porous and will curl if left
to dry with out support, if they are not flat when you reglue, cracks will
appear in the surface.
  If you want to whiten them soak in hydrogen peroxide and leave in direct
sunlight, several applications may be required, to mak like new.
Regards Roger



At 12:14 PM 31/07/98 -0600, you wrote:
>Another question, I was wondering...
>
>Could anyone suggest a way to remove wood from the bottom of ivory key
>tops?
>Over the last several years I have been removing and collecting ivory
>from old junk pianos. I really have quite an impressive collection now,
>numerous shades and easily enough to recover the keys on several pianos
>or more. One problem, however, is that quite often some wood comes off
>with the ivory when removed. I have tried all types of scraping,
>sanding, grinding, what have you. This usually results in breaking the
>key top or gouging it so that the bottom is no longer even. I'm afraid
>of using any kind of chemical for fear that it will either warp or
>otherwise damage the ivory. It would sure be nice to get all these keys
>cleaned off so that they are usable. Ideas?
>
>Rob Goodale, RPT
>
Roger Jolly
Baldwin Yamaha Piano Centre
Saskatoon and Regina
Saskatchewan, Canada.
306-665-0213
Fax 652-0505