Devlon, I find your method too involved. for an easier solution check my site below and click on needle oiler <G> Joe Goss imatunr@srvinet.com www.mothergoosetools.com ----- Original Message ----- From: <BSHARPTUNE@AOL.COM> To: <pianotech@ptg.org> Sent: Saturday, August 18, 2001 8:41 AM Subject: Re: oilers (Protek-good method) > Hi Tom, > > In my quest for applying Protek, I have tried every type of oiler, hypo > oiler, by Schaff, Jenson tools, others, etc. There are two problems with > all of these oilers: > > 1. The amount of flow is not controllable enough; you lose too much Protek. > 2. The heads of some oilers will not go in tight places between the flanges. > > I have found using a hypodermic syringe is the best, however you have to > prepare it somewhat before using it. Syringes can be purchased from any > pharmacy or veterinary supply without prescription for about .35 each. > > Buy a syringe that at least 100cc in size. This is a good size to handle and > will do an entire action in about 3 barrels full. The needle itself should > be 1.5-2" long and have an internal diameter of . 020. This may be referred > to as a 20 gauge barrel, but I am not certain. You need this needle length > to get good access to all action centers from any position, and this internal > barrel diameter to get adequate flow. > > The tip of a syringe will have to be cut flush because syringes have a slice > at the aperture of what looks like 70-80 degrees. This will cause Protek to > flow out the side allow you to put it where you want it. > > Preparation: > > Before you cut the tip off the barrel (cutters for steel here; no center pin > cutters) > insert a . 020 guitar strings. At any music store, ask for a . 020 plain > steel guitar string. The string is about 30" long, enough for 20-30 > syringes, and cost about . 85 cents. The reason you are inserting the string > into the barrel is to prevent the barrel from being crushed flat when you cut > the sharp tip off. Once the tip is flat, it is impossible to "round" again, > and is useless. Insert the string into the needle until it protrudes a > little out the tip. Now cut (again, sharp cutters here. These needles are > very hard stainless steel!). After the cut you will notice that the barrel > has compressed on the guitar string. Sometimes you can pull the string out, > sometimes you can't. But it doesn't matter at this point because you will hav > e to "reshape" the barrel some anyway. At this point I take the smooth part > of needle nose pliers and gently compress the needle in the area needed to > get it back to a round shape. This will always "release" the guitar string. > > Applying: > > Usually, until the bottle of Protek (4oz size) is about 2/3 empty, you can > push the syringe into the top of the bottle, and back out the plunger. It > will fill up. Then I upright the syringe (needle upwards), thump it to get > the air bubbles to the top, and push it the plunger a little to get all the > air out. > > Drawback: > > There is something about Protek that causes the rubber part of the plunger to > swell. This swelling occurs by the time you are finished doing an entire > action. You will notice by the second barrel that the plunger is getting > harder to push. So, when you use the syringe you cannot leave it partially > filled, and then go have lunch, etc, and expect to use it again later. You > will find the plunger will be nearly impossible to move! So, this is applied > all at one time. > > Cleanup: > > As soon as you are finished, wash the entire syringe (especially the rubber > part) in water. Fill the barrel and flush water through the tip. DO NOT > store the syringe with the plunger inserted. This will compress the rubber, > and make the fit no longer air tight which will cause it to leak. > > When I apply Protek I usually remove the entire action and balance it > vertically. This way I have easier access to all the action centers. But > more importantly this uses gravity to flow Protek directly into the bushings. > I flip the action and apply again. > > This "syringe method" make sound like some trouble, but it really isn't. > You will find that you will waste no Protek at all, and will have perfect > control of even "micro-drops" to just the places you want it. > > Good luck! > > Devlon > Western KY Univ.
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