Best glue for ivory?

[David Love]

The basic method involves coloring the hide glue with whiting at a ratio of
5:1 (5 parts hide glue to 1 part whiting).  The glue is laid on the key and
a layer of linen is laid over the glue.  A hot flat knife is then used to
flatten the linen against the glue.  When it dries the sides are trimmed. 
A thin layer of glue is then placed on the head, or tail and they are set
on top of the key.  Keep the glue away from the joint by about 1/16" and
don't use so much that it squeezes into the joint.  If you don't, the joint
is more likely to show.  A hot caul (about the temperature of a medium
iron) is placed over the head or tail and clamped.  Clamping can be tricky
to get the head and tail joined tightly and the hot caul can be awkward to
handle.  There are some tricks.  Allow to dry/cool overnight.  

For ivories that have come just come off and the glue is still clean, you
can try reconstituting the glue with water and reclamping with a hot caul
and clamp.  If the glue is dirty, scrape it minimally to clean and then
relay a layer of hide glue colored with whiting and proceed as mentioned
above.  
  
David Love
davidlovepianos@earthlink.net


----- Original Message ----- 
From: 
To: pianotech@ptg.org
Sent: 6/15/2003 6:30:53 PM 
Subject: Best glue for ivory?


Hi list, 

There were many e-mails in the past several days about ivory keytop
regluing, but in going back through them, I could not find a definitive
answer as to what would be the best glue to use.   

I have a job coming up where 7 or 8 ivories have come unglued and need to
be reattached to a S and S keyboard(unknown model).  I am assuming that I
will find more than a few others that are coming loose.  I plan to do take
my time and do the job well.  I have used hide glue in the past, and that
has worked well enough.  If the ivories are in great shape, I worry about
the opacity of the keytops allowing a darkening of the appearance of the
keys.   

CA is out, out of respect to future techs and because accurate initial
positioning on the key is absolutely crucial.   

Any input would be helpful.  Thanks, 

Dave Stahl