Dear Robin,
Yes, those wyphens came from a 1920's Ampico
grand that had been in fire, or a barn, or something:
black with filth, verdigrised and utterly seized-up!
But don't worry about the "Super-Clean"TM eating
through your shoe! It won't do that. But if it wends
through the shoe laces, your foot will immediately
look like Alan Barnard's world-famous "dessicated
weasel bladders" - and stay that way for a week!!!!!!
Better wear your milkin' boots.
By the way: I only recommended leaving the action
parts on the frame so that access to all sides can be
easily had, for blasting off filth and old felts
rapidly. If one is concerned about rail-warpage, the
wypphynze can be tossed in a 5 gallon bucket with 2
gallons of "Super-Clean"TM in the botom, let sit for 3
minutes, and then rinsed under hot water. Do NOT do
this in your bathtub, though, as the little felt
pieces will take up permanent habitation in your drain
pipes, and you will very possibly cuss a lot.
And ALWAYS wear a mask! Breathing these fumes will
make you feel lousy.
Thump
--- Robin Hufford <hufford1@airmail.net> wrote:
> Gordon,
> Thanks for your well detailed procedure. I am
> not sure I want to
> try something that could eat right through my shoe
> and get to me foot,
> but, judging from the Chickering Whippens this
> procedure produces an
> amazing result.
> Later in the fall, or perhaps in the winter, I
> will try it on a set
> of whippens removed from a 1920 O that, although
> only slight worn, have
> the worse case of verdigris and general dirtiness I
> have everseen. The
> piano has long since had the action replaced and
> been finished but I
> kept the old whippens, hammershanks, flanges and
> hammers, for whatever
> reason, probably an irrational one, but mainly
> because they were so
> unworn.
> I did experiment, several years ago, with
> dipping the frozen,
> verdigrised, flanges in the water thin stripper made
> by Strip-Eaze as a
> test to see if they would free up. The test items
> are still free, now
> three or four years later, or they were the last
> time I looked, which
> might have been about a year or so ago.
> Were the flanges on the spare Chickering
> whippens I got from you,
> which are now in such good shape, tight and
> corroded?
> Thanks again,
> Regards, Robin Hufford
>
> gordon stelter wrote:
>
> > --- Robin Hufford <hufford1@airmail.net> wrote:
> > > Gordon Stelter,
> > > The spare Chickering Whippens I got from
> you
> > > were amazingly clean,
> > > including the pinning. I know you have
> mentioned
> > > your treatment of
> > > them here at some other time, which I,
> unfortunately
> > > missed. Would you
> > > reiterate this process?
> > > Thanks Robin Hufford
> >
> > Dear Robin,
> > Thank you for inquiring as to the method of
> > cleaning which was used on these whippens. It is a
> > radical method which may seem very hard to accept,
> but
> > I have found it extremely useful: especially on
> > obsolete parts.
> > I first tried this on the action of a
> gorgeous
> > 1883 Weber rosewood upright which a rat had died
> in.
> > The piano was not salvageable: at least I would
> not
> > feel comfortable ever selling it! So I
> experimented on
> > the very black, smelly and filthy action before
> > discarding it.
> > Essentially, this method involves use of the
> very
> > highly concentrated soaps which have recently come
> on
> > the market, such as: "Purple Stuff", "Purple
> Power",
> > "Super Stuff", and etc., which are generally sold
> as
> > engine degreasers in auto parts stores.( Do NOT
> use
> > "Greased Lightning", as it will make everything
> smell
> > like dog urine, forever!!! ) But I get mine 75%
> off at
> > an automotive paint store. WARNING!!! THIS STUFF
> IS
> > STRONG!!!!!! The strongest types will eat your
> skin
> > very quickly if allowed to sit, so go "Full Bug"
> with
> > a face shield, carbon filter mask, rubber gloves,
> > rainsuit, etc.. A mist of it in your eyes will
> give
> > you a horrendous migraine. And rubber boots! Some
> > fellow around here let it drip on his shoes, and
> ended
> > up at the emergency room.
> > But it is just a soap. Albeit a very POWERFUL
> > soap!
> > As it currently stands: 1)Get a quart of this
> > stuff in the spray bottle, and a gallon for
> refills.
> > 2)Hook up a good hose to the hot water outlet
> (drain)
> > on your water heater, and run outside. 3)Take the
> > action outside and blow out as much dirt as
> possible
> > with compressed air ( downwind from your
> neighbors'
> > laundry, please! ) 4)Loosen all flange screws a
> turn.
> > 5)If an upright, remove spring rail. 6) Save a
> whippen
> > and sample hammers, along with other felt samples.
> > 7) Really spray this stuff all over the action.
> Drench
> > it!!! You will soon see a revolting blackish brown
> > ooze crawling out, dripping onto the driveway,
> > resembling bad motor oil. This is the dirt, cigar
> > smoke, cooking grease, coal dust, auto fumes,
> > flatulence, bad breath, and etc. that the action
> has
> > absorbed over the last century. Let sit for 5
> minutes
> > as you stare in disgust and amazement. 8) Take
> your
> > hot water hose and rinse, blasting away the old
> felts
> > as you go. Keep rinsing until most of the suds
> have
> > quit. Repeat if necessary. 9) Dismantle the action
> > quickly, using an electric screwdriver and laying
> the
> > clean, wet, feltless parts on a screen placed atop
> > four buckets with a box fan underneath, blowing
> > upwards. By starting with loosening the screws
> > beforehand, you have prevented them from crushing
> the
> > flanges as the wood swells. 10) Quickly dry the
> action
> > rails and hang up in a breeze, but not in the sun
> > which would encourage warping. 11) Flip the parts
> > frequently, until they feel dry. This does not
> take
> > long. And you CAN do this in the sun! 12) Bring
> > indoors and lay on paper towells atop a piano or
> > something, in a dry room for a week or two. 13)Go
> > clean the mess off your driveway. 14) Once fully
> dry,
> > install felts in action parts. I use "Aileen's
> Tacky
> > Glue" from the fabric store for action felts.
> About 10
> > times thicker than supply house PVC, same
> otherwise.
> > 15) Protek action centers and screw to rails. I
> > believe that many do not find success with Protek
> > simply because they are too stingy! Sometimes 2
> > applications are needeed. Real soakings. The
> carrier
> > will disappear from the wood when it evaporates,
> and
> > you will have AMAZINGLY clean, fully functional
> parts
> > which look ALMOST as clean as new!
> > I have used this method about 6 times with no
> > apparent damage. Actions were milled from woods
> chosen
> > for dimensional stability, and if a tiny bit of
> > warpage DOES occur, it can easily be compensated
> for
> > by normal regulation. Even jacks in balancier
> windows
> > stay centered, so I have found. And I use this
> stuff
> > for keyframes, too! With a brass brush to really
> > loosen the filth. Just hang up to dry and don't
> > regulate for a month or so while you do the case.
> If
> > the frame swells 1/16" over its entire length, so
> > what? Better than a stinking, filthy keyframe in
> the
> > customer's immaculate living room.
> > Rarely some component will separate if it
> was
> > milled from a laid-up board. But this is easy to
> fix
> > with a drop of Titebond and a clothespin. Most
> > wonderfully, I have done this with REALLY gummed
> up,
> > totally inoperable actions which came out with the
> > action centers very nice indeed!_
> > Obviously, you don't do this to
> > Mrs. Biffstoneworthington's 1901 Boesendorfer
> without
> > practice! And I would not recommend it where
> quality
> > replacement parts are available. But, for obsolete
> > parts ( like player whippens ) or parts which are
> NOT
> > available in quality replacements, it is a very
> useful
>
=== message truncated ===
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