Best glue for ivory?

[Mike Kurta]

    David:
    I've had good success with contact cement.  Find the yellow variety in
tubes, (hardware, home centers) after cleaning the key and the underside of
the top, with your finger, coat both with a medium layer of cement.  Let
stand for 10 minutes (important) and carefully place and press down.  It is
quick, cheap, easy, and will never come off again.  The lighter color cement
doesn't show through the ivory.  Try it, you'll like it, been using this
method for 20 years.    TIPS:  hold down the adjoining keys with rubber
wedges, it makes the process easier and cleaner.  Naptha (lighter fluid) is
a good solvent for the cement in case it gets smeared in the wrong place.
    Mike Kurta

----- Original Message -----
From: "David Love" <davidlovepianos@earthlink.net>
To: <pianotech@ptg.org>; <Piannaman@aol.com>
Sent: Monday, June 16, 2003 2:54 AM
Subject: RE: Best glue for ivory?


> 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
>
>
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