Baldwin key bushing removal

[John M. Formsma]

Ron N.,

<<No negative opinion here. I'm still using a set of aluminum cauls I made
before the brass ones were available, and a couple of sets of brass of
different sizes that I bought later. I bush with hot hide glue, and one of
the things I like about the brass (or aluminum) cauls is that I can heat
them up with a heat gun just after I finish the set, and when I take them
out in the morning, the bushings are pressed and ironed smooth and nicely
fitted. Normally, the only easing I have to do is chipping out the
occasional overly ambitious (sloppy) rock hard glue squeeze out at the
bottom of the bushing. I like them.>>


Sounds good to me. One of the things Pianotek advertises about their brass
cauls is that you can set them on a heating tray before insertion, and the
heat will reactivate any hot hide glue that has begun to set up. Sounds like
a great way to do it. I add urea to my mixture to slow the dry time, and
brush glue on about 10-15 mortises. (I could probably do more, but I like to
stay on the safe side.) Then I simply lay the felt over the mortises, and
proceed to mercilessly slice that felt with the Bushmaster tool. Having the
warm cauls would give me more peace of mind about the glue setting up early,
so I will likely purchase a set of cauls before the next job.

For this last rebushing job, I purchased the key clamp from Spurlock, and do
not regret its purchase at all. I clamped the keys down after removing them
from the piano, and did the bushing job with them in the clamp. Works great!

Any other cool (er, hot) ideas for rebushing? Such as, what is the best
thingee for applying the hot hide glue?

John Formsma
Blue Mountain, MS

mailto:jformsma@dixie-net.com