David, 4 possible solutions: 1. Wash and lube. Quickest. Apply Dry-cleaning solution (VMP Naphtha) followed by some form of lubricant. Temporary. 2. Wash and repin. More work. Disassemble parts, wash the wood and bushings with Naphtha, blow them out with low-pressure compressed air, burnish / ream with broaches, repin. Longer lasting, but still temporary. 3. Evaporate, wash, and repin. Some have had success with parts only containing the original waxy goop (which is likely very rare by now - most have been lubricated with something over the years to try to free them up). You can try "Zapping" them in place, as with the original Francis Mehaffy zapper, then lubing the parts. Or disassemble them, zap the bushings separately, then dry-clean and repin. Still temporary, in my experience, although some proponents claim it is permanent. I think permanence in this case might equal "I never heard back from them." Anybody have a zapper they want to send to David to try?? 4. Replace the parts (of course). Expensive but permanent. Recommendation: Inform the piano owner that anything short of replacing the parts will most likely be temporary, and write it on your receipt. Have them sign a copy, and keep it in your files. I have had customers sell pianos I did temporary jobs on, and tell the buyer that it was completely rebuilt and warranted by me! Don Mannino From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of Paul Kunz Sent: Tuesday, December 30, 2008 7:29 AM To: pianotech at ptg.org Subject: [pianotech] Verdigris in Action Centers Greetings: I am wondering what the latest recommendations are for severe verdigris on old Steinway Action Centers. Reaming and repining has never to my mind been a permanent solution; therefore in the past I have tended to replace whippens and shanks. However, in a very old Steinway when the customer is not willing to spend the money, and repining appears to be only temporary and time consuming, what type of chemical treatment has been found to be the most effective. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thank you, David C. Kunz -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/pianotech_ptg.org/attachments/20081230/4996d10d/attachment-0001.html>
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