Graphited bushings

[John Delacour]

At 2:02 PM -0600 13/2/02, Mike and Jane Spalding wrote:

>...a pile of graphite powder on the guide rail around the bushing. 
>Yes, she remebers now, a tuner had lubricated the sticky dampers for 
>her several years ago...
>
>So here's my question - I know I'll have to remove the dampers and 
>the guide rail to fix this problem.  Obviously, I'll polish the 
>damper wires.  Can I clean the graphite out of the bushings, say 
>with naptha and a pipe cleaner, or should I just go ahead and 
>re-bush?

Rebush!  It's less than an hour's work.  Why DO they do it?!  There's 
nothing more troublesome than graphite in bushings.  Heaven knows why 
Renner thinks fit to use the stuff.

When I rebush damper guides I use a fairly think brew of hide glue so 
as to get a nice ring round the bottom of the bushing.  When the glue 
is nearly hard I take a long needle or wire that is a tight fit in 
the bushing and draw it in and out so that it gets hot from friction 
and irons the bushing.  Provided you've used the right thickness of 
bushing cloth, the hole will settle to just the right size.  If you 
must err, err on the loose side.

JD