What's the best way to clean brass key cauls ?

[gordon stelter]

     Thank you for the ( typically ) kindly response,
Mr. Nossaman.
     For your edification ( and the benefit of those
who may be swayed by your mockery, and its overall
uselessness ) a scientist at the University of Georgia
informed me that mice carry 142 known infectious
diseases in their excrement, some of which are very
dangerous. 
     I, personally, came down with a nasty pulmonary
infection a few years ago ( coughing up blood )  which
laid me up for 2 months: all from a $50 tuning on a 
mouse-infested piano. ( Not  worth it. )  
     I may be mistaken: but if someone entered your
shop and peed in your key-caul container, I suspect
that you'd clean them all,  and not just by rinsing
with water.  You'd also want to  remove whatever
chemical compunds ( corrosion )  were  caused by this
exposure, it being a combination of both it, and the
brass.. 
     I was a  monk for 6 years ( yes, in an actual
monastery ) where the spiritual benefits of "keeping
our accounts separate" was  deeply emhasized. We were
not, for example allowed to enter the kitchen without
showering and changing, and similarly showered and 
changed after ventures into "the world", for supplies.
 Conversely, It is a prime characteristic of
materialistic society  to just "take the money and
run":  overlooking simple "courtesies and niceties",
such as, for example, not using contaminated tools and
supplies on the pianos our customers  pay "Beaucoup
Bucks " for us to restore !  Obvously, going from
"piano to piano" ( which are often astoundingly filthy
) we can not be 100% effective in this endeavor, but I
have developed a  system ( such as mostly separate
tools for service calls, never dismantling a  piano
indoors, a shower on my back porch, etc..)  which
largely obviates such cross-contamination, and keeps
this crap "outta my house" !!! 
     Another way of looking at it is this: If I paid a
 huge sum for someone to restore my piano, I'd like
them to be similarly considerate.  Jesus said: "Do
unto others as ye would have them do unto you" so it
is simply a matter of that.  
     I would suggest that you examine this urge to
ridicule me, and whether it is healthy, useful, or a
wise use of your energies. You are an expert,
apparently, at building new soundboards.  I may be an
expert at getting filth and odors out of old panos, so
they look ( and smell ) inside and out, as nice as
brand-new ones. My impression is that the purpose of
this list is for us all to share the areas in which we
have developed a particular expertise, for the mutual
benefit of everyone. 
    Why can't you just be happy with that ?

Peace,
     Gordon 


       
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