Verdigris fix

[JIMRPT@AOL.COM]

I always have a problem in disagreeing with a person I like and respect..this 
particularly so on a subject where there is little 'acknowledged' 'provable' 
fact.
 However on the subject of verdigris and lanolin I am going to have to 
disagree. 
My points will be interspersed with Will Snyders comments below.
.................................................................
In a message dated 06/10/01 3:29:55 PM, Vilsnyder@AOL.COM writes:

<<"But the condition is caused by the placing of a brass CenterPin in a 
wool
Bushing which contains Lanolin, a natural oil from the sheep.">>

 While it is true that lanolin is a component of wool products it does not 
follow that brass and lanolin create verdigris. Since all piano verdigris 
problems do not happen in brass wool contact there must be some other, or at 
least 'additional', cause......for example the hammer flange rail cloth on 
some S&S thingees are a woven cotton and quite often the brass rail 
underneath the cloth will have verdigris as well as the steel flange screw.



<<"Both times that 
I spent working in a program for Techs at the Baldwin Factory at 1801 Gilbert 
Ave.,
Cincinnati, Ohio, I was educated to the fact that theytook great pains to 
wash the wool cloth in a chemical bath to get the oil out of the wool.">>

 I am assuming the "fact" referred to here is that Baldwin washed their felt 
for lanolin removal and not the "fact" that Lanolin causes verdigris...Right?


<<" I have 
observed over the years that these Centers were much more stable (because of 
shrinking the cloth)
and did not develop the Verdigris problem.">>

 Aren't "stability" and "Developing (sic) the verdigris problem" separate 
issues?
Aren't the pianos which have developed problems with verdigris far far 
outnumbered by pianos which have not developed said problems. Are we to 
believe that all the hundreds of thousands of American Aeolian pianos out 
there all had 'pre-washed' felt used in their action centers? Why isn't 
verdigris a problem on those pianos such as it is on some of the more 'qua
lity' instruments? Most notable among those S&S, M&H and quite often 
Chickering? Also why is it that when S&S and M&H stopped the practice of 
'dipping' their flanges in tallow/parrafin that the verdigris problem does 
not show up in later years?

 If it is the "lanolin" in the flange centers that causes verdigris why does 
it show up on some centers and not others in the same action...case in point 
-a model 'M' S&S currently in for rebuild has a verdigris problem on 'all' 
the hammer flanges and not a scintilla of verdigris on any other center pin 
in the action....by coincidence (?) each and every hammer flange is a darker 
color than are the shanks.... in addition if the shank is heated up nothing 
happens to the wood surface although 'gunk' does come out of the felt 
centers, however if the flange is heated up there appears a sticky waxy film 
which will flash off if heated long enough. .......if the verdigris were 
migrating from wool to wood shouldn't the part containing the wool have 
absorbed more of the lanolin/verdigris than the part not containing the wool?

 Lanolin as a 'primary' cause of verdigris has no viable support unless one 
can overlook all the pianos which have not developed this stuff...but that is 
just my opinion and it just happens to differ from Willis's
 On one thing we agree absolutely...if you have verdigris problems 'replace' 
don't 'repin'. :-)
Jim Bryant (FL)