First issue is that the problem is not in the birdseye: it's in the wood the holds the bushing. I suppose you could remove the bushing, seal the wood, install a new bushing and then repin. The question is whether the labor involved (and let's not forget the condition of the repetition spring, the regulating buttons, the wippen heal cloth) is worth it when compared to the cost of a new wippen. On the surface, my argument goes for replacing the wippen. The labor versus cost just doesn't pan out to me and with even minimal risk that recontamination may occur, it doesn't seem worth it. On a customer job with any recurring problems falling under your own warranty and considering the customer is paying for the new wippens, it is definitely not worth it. With spec projects, why take the risk. The cost benefit versus labor is not significant enough to take any chance. Anyway, new Renner parts, in my view, perform better than 70+-year-old Steinway parts under the best conditions anyway. It's a reasonable idea that might make sense in rare situations--though I'm not sure what those would be--, but in general, not worth the effort and too many potential liabilities. At least that's my view. If you're not sentimental about original designs, there's certainly no reason to get sentimental about original wippens with verdigris. David Love davidlovepianos at comcast.net www.davidlovepianos.com Original message From: erwinspiano at aol.com To: pianotech at ptg.org Received: 3/14/2008 7:45:02 PM Subject: A remedy for Verdigris Hey all I know ...I know there is no remedy for verdigris .... except a new parts transplant... but the other day my 83 year old Dad & I were looking a perfectly useable set of vintage Steinway wippens except for the mild case of creeping green crud so, We were lamenting having to toss a beautiful set of original Steinway wippens in the trash. We started brainstorming how we could solve this given the contamination is in the wood. Now I know many of us have re-pinned & re- bushed ...put on new flanges etc. & in the end all for nothing as it returns, But with a good set of wippens approaching 1000 bucks the idea has my attention. I told my Dad I was thinking about how to cut out the birds eye & then machine a new insert with birds eye & all. My thought was that if the new insert was put in with epoxy that this would act as a verdigris barrier from entering back into the new wood. Then My Pops says "why not just coat the existing birds eye with epoxy & slide a coated pin thru the hole to seal up the exposed inner wood which should prove de a barrier to any further contamination". Then pin on new flanges. I thought the idea had merit. I mean for a few short hours of pinning & coating an original set of beautifully made & machined maple wippens could be preserved & re-used at any level of performance required. How bout some discussion. Dale
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