Baldwin key bushing removal

[John M. Formsma]

Patrick,

Thanks for the tip. I've already finished the job, but will keep this idea
handy.

What I discovered was that steam worked best. I used a 50/50 alcohol/water
solution to wet the bushings, then inserted a custom brass tip that attached
to a 25W soldering iron (no steam generator yet). After doing a few, I was
able to notice exactly when the glue bond was loosening, so it was pretty
easy after that.

Some other things.... Alcohol worked best to clean the accumulated sticky
glue from my fingers. Tried acetone, alc/H2O solution, etc., but pure
alcohol worked best to dissolve the glue stuff. The balance rail bushings
were not glued with the same thing. Not sure what glue was used, but it was
not hide glue. Maybe PVC-E. I used PVC-E for the front rail bushings, which
worked well, and hide glue for the bal rail. I like hide glue the best, but
the process using PVC-E is very quick because you can apply glue for half
the keyboard without worrying about it drying prematurely. (I use the
Bushmaster and Spurlock cauls, although I am thinking about getting the
brass cauls from Pianotek. They look as if they would work better. Any
negative opinion out there?)

Thanks all for your help.

John Formsma
Blue Mountain, MS

mailto:jformsma@dixie-net.com

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-pianotech@ptg.org [mailto:owner-pianotech@ptg.org]On Behalf
Of Patrick C. Poulson
Sent: Tuesday, March 13, 2001 2:24 PM
To: pianotech@ptg.org
Subject: Re: Baldwin key bushing removal


Hi All! I have had occasion to do this kind of bushing removal before.  I
got a tip from Yvonne Ashmore to use a mix of ammonia and water to presoak
the bushings, the theory being that the ammonia loosens up the white glue.
The steam then can do the rest of the job.  I haven't done too many like
this, but I remember this working pretty well.  Patrick Poulson