Thanks for asking!
I'm very tired now and may not relate this
well............but it all started when I brought home
a GORGEOUS 1885 Rosewood Weber.... that a rat had died
in!
After nearly dying myself ( I had put it,
uninspected, right next to my bed!!!) I started
wondering how to sanitize such messes.
The Weber was toast....no hope there... but I
experimented with it, and this is what I developed:
1) Have an OUTDOOR area to dismantle pianos, FAR away
from your shop! Covered. A portable car-port is great,
and an old aluminum bakery "box van" works better, as
you can later drive it to the car wash and hose it
out.( Sending old pencils, paperclips, etc. into the
sump. ) If you have neither, get several slabs of
rigid foam insulation and tarps to cover the piano at
night, if you can't dismantle it in one day. Do not
use woven plastic tarps with grommets alone, as they
are not completely waterproof. Put a thick plastic
drop cloth underneath, then the foam, then the woven
tarp held down with weights or bungees.
2)Dismantle the piano and blast everything out
thoroughly with compressed air, when the wind is NOT
blowing towards your neighbor's pie safe, new paint or
clothesline!
3)Remove your sample hammers, other hammers ( if you
will use new butts) and the hammer and spring rail.
4)Go get a gallon of "Super-Clean" from an auto parts
store, ( auto paint stores sell an equivalent, far
cheaper. I get mine $3/gallon!)
5)Hook an industrial grade rubber hose up to the drain
cock on your water heater, and run it out to the
driveway, or somewhere you don't mind the runoff
contaminating ( they claim this stuff's
"biodegradable" but I wouldn't want it in my garden!)
6) Set the action on the driveway or somewhere your
neighbors will not scream about, spray the Super Clean
all over it with either a hand-held squirt bottle, or
an insecticide pump-type dispenser. Let it soak in
about 15 minutes, then HOSE DOWN THE ACTION!!!!!!!
( frame and wippens ) with hot water. An abominable,
reeking, meftic brown ooze will slobber all over the
place, the color of old motor oil, along with the
action felts ( as you blast them away ). Keep blasting
until the suds die down, repeat if necessary.
8) Dismantle the action, and place the pieces on an
aluminum screen in the sun, or in a breezy place ( I
use window fans) flipping them regularly.
I suppose you could dismantle the action first,
dunk the pieces in super clean, rinse and dry, but I
prefer the convenience of an assembled action, which
allows aiming the water jet directly at stubborn
felts, etc..
But you don't want to let it dry assembled, as
the flange screws will leave iron stains on the action
parts, and rust in the wood. ( though the tops will be
clean and very shiny! )
Once the wippens have dried, you will have VERY
clean parts which almost look brand new!!! Ready for
refelting! This is especially handy for player pianos,
and others with unavailable parts. Or just to save
money. Remember, that the wood used in actions was
chosen for hygrometric stability and, I have found,
will not warp if dried correctly. One or two flanges
may separate if machined from a glued up lumber, but
that's no big deal. Just reglue them. ( Clothesins
make good clamps for this ) I have also found that
this process frees gummy center pins BEAUTIFULLY---
just right, in fact, for all but concert work!( Once
they are lubricated during reassembly with Protek ).
At this point I am sure that many of you are
laughing hysterically at what an idiot I am. To which
I humbly reply SHUT UP AND TRY IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Take a filthy, junk action, and try it yourself! YOU
WILL LAUGH NO MORE!!! No more days spent scraping off
old felts while breathing stinking, disease bearing
filth!!! No more guilt from placing filthy actions in
the homes of hygienic, unsuspecting customers ( who
would scream if they ever looked inside Grandma's old
"restored" upright! )No more guilt from very possibly
giving their 5 year old daughter some nasty
( usually respiratory ) disease as she is forced to
practice on it! Think about it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Back to the case.
I don't try to mic wires in the piano. I take a
sample from each unison, lay it between 2 strips of
duct tape and mic them all at once.
Once the plate is out, I strip the case, have
masked over the tuning pin holes. Old uprights usually
use shellac on the soundbaord, which washes right off
lacquer thinner, blasted from a spray gun. I don't use
straight alcohol as it can weaken hide glue joints.
Don't forget the back. The crap on the back ( old
uprights ) can take a day to remove by this method,
with 3 gallons of lacquer thinner, using a bottle
brush to scrub between the posts and board, etc.. What
collects at the bottom of the posts can periodically
be dumped out by tipping the piano on its back. I get
a mountain of those big cardboard boxes furniture
stores throw away for it all this to slop onto, with a
big plastic tarp underneath. The boxes then can be
left in the sun to evaporate off the thinner, and
discarded or burned.
Keybeds are especialy nasty, and I generally use
superclean, scrub and hose on them, drying rapidly
with rags and breeze. Not in sun! And never use
chlorine bleach inside a piano, as it will make things
rust---forever. I have thought of oxalic acid for
keybeds ( & keys? ), but not tried yet. Anyway,
several coats of paint ( epoxy's best) on keybed will
hold in any residual stench-----unless there has been
pervasive rodent habitaton, in which case NOTHING but
a gallon of kerosene and a match will cure it ( after,
of course, removing the keys and knocking out the
leads which can be dumped in the used wheel weight bin
at your local tire store ).
The keyframe can similarly be scrubbed with Super
Clean and a little brass detailiung brush, hosed and
hung up to dry. Remaining odor held in with spray
paint, after putting soda straws on the keypins. Here
again, presence of paint should actually help keep
action in regulation.
Disclaimer: Wear serious protective gear
throughout this process, including rubber boots.
SuperClean will burn a hole through your skin if
allowed to set. A mist of it in your eyes will give
you a torrid headache! I go "Full Bug" --- knit hat,
raincoat with hood, gas mask, face shield (AND
goggles), elbow length serious chemical protectant
gloves ( I like heavy nitrile from auto paint store ),
rubber pants and boots. All dressd up like this, its
almost fun to do battle with the "dragon"! Amazes your
neighbors, too! ( Who will probably call the FBI in
our current social climate! )
I'm sure I've forgotten some stuff, and will
remember it later. But that's the gist of it. Now I
think I will go to sleep while the berateful, hateful
mountains of ridicule pile in. Superclean. Rinse. Dry
quickly. Paint where necessary.
P.S. For my next installment, I may describe how I
re-crowned the board on a 1922 Krakauer 50" upright,
which now sounds better than a Steinway. No kidding.
Love and Kisses
Dr.Thump
AKA Gordon Lee Stelter
Stéphane_Collin <collin.s@skynet.be> wrote:
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "gordon stelter" <lclgcnp@yahoo.com>
> To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
> Sent: Tuesday, August 13, 2002 10:36 PM
> Subject: Re: Cleaning keys again
>
>
> | I have developed a whole system for
> sanitizing
> | pianos and REALLY returning them to "like new" ,
> which
> | I will share when I have time.
>
> Please, do. This will be much appreciated.
>
> Stéphane Collin.
>
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