At 12:29 PM 06/07/2001 -0500, you wrote: >Susan >I have a Steinway "Teflon" action on the bench right now with very noisy >felts-jack regulating button, wippen cushion, knuckles, drop screw leathers, >back rail cloth. The customer can't afford to rework the action, but would >like it to play "quieter." Would this be a good candidate for the vodka? >BTW all, that's all the Teflon centers are tight, near perfect. > >Paul Chick All I can suggest, Paul, is to take out one wippen, noisy, but not right in the middle of the piano, and try it. The worst that happens is that you replace the felt and cloth on the one part. I don't think vodka would help leather. (In fact, it would WRECK leather!) It's wool which tangles up into a nice fluffy mass when it is wet. Picture what happens to a wool sweater if you wash it in water. I would brush the drop screw leather and knuckles well with a stiff suede brush, and maybe add teflon powder. Get off anything greasy which someone might have put on it, but without getting the leather wet. Leather shrinks and hardens when it has gotten wet. I think one reason for my preferring a very discrete amount of vodka over steaming the noisy action parts is that it would be harder to keep the steam from the leathers, and it might harden them. Good luck ... tell me how it goes. If your sample note experiences a miracle cure, and you want to do the whole action, I think you could reach everything without removing parts from the stack, by turning the stack upside down. Vodka in a hypo-oiler or syringe could reach the jack regulating felt. If you want to gild the lily, it might be nice to take the rep spring out of its slot while the vodka dries, so that the jack regulating felt isn't pressed down while wet. How about the letoff button punching? If you are too excitable with the vodka, and soak the whole wippen cushion and letoff button cloth, they could come off and need regluing. Try just a drop or two of vodka, right at the contact points. Susan
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