graphite

[Mike and Jane Spalding]

HI Dave,

No, it's not anthrax.  It's just dirty and useless.  I can't think of a single lube job in a piano that can't be done better with some other material.  When I sit at a piano, slide the action back, and rest the front rail on my lap for voicing / regulating, I'd rather the glide bolts were lubed with talc.

Mike

----- Original Message ----- 
From: Dave Nereson <dnereson@dimensional.com>
To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: Wednesday, February 13, 2002 7:15 PM
Subject: graphite


>     On this graphite thing -- everybody talks about it like it's anthrax or
> something, but I don't find the stuff all that offensive.  Not powdered
> graphite, anyhow.  Graphite grease, yes -- that stuff is nasty because it
> collects dust and gums up, slowing things down, rather than lubricating.
> Technicians used it quite a bit in decades past and is now a no-no.  (I
> think that's the most commonly found gunk in repetition lever spring slots
> of older grands).
>     But the powdered graphite I don't see as all that bad a substance, other
> than being difficult to wipe off your fingers.  Isn't that what piano
> manufacturers used to put on the tops and tenders of jacks, on top of
> repetition levers, on sliding surfaces like the hardwood plugs under the
> glide bolts of grand actions and on the side of the action frame where it
> contacts the shift return spring,  and sometimes on dags and the back edge
> of the back rail, and in certain spring grooves, and sometimes on sliding
> surfaces of wooden trapwork levers, etc.??
>     I don't use it much, except occasionally under the glide bolts if they
> squeak when using the soft pedal (una corda).  And on upright damper levers,
> I'll pop the spring out, polish it, brush the felt clean with a toothbrush,
> then lube the slot with pencil lead, which is essentially graphite, I
> believe.  I mean, as long as it's not graphite grease, and you don't lick
> your fingers to dispose of the excess, what's wrong with
>     --David Nereson, RPT, Denver
> 
>