Hi Paul Original Ivory is usually .035 to .040/1 mm so a .060 key/1.5 mm is only .020 thicker than the original Ivory. If the sharps are set up to 1/2"/12 mm and the key dip isn't excessive then really reg. is probably not a problem. As Long as the sharps aren't buried at full key travel. If you replace with thicker plastic of .090 it may be an issue. Also JD raises a practical solution but... If later the client wishes to install a set of pre-ban Ivory they are generally .060 from Warthers and I'm guessing you could order the Ivory any thickness you want to so as to address your key wood thickness concerns. Just a thought. BTW All vintage Steinway had the back rail glued on both sides. We still put it back that way. There is always an underlayment of red felt & sometimes a shim of the red colored oil board that Steinway has used forever. The back of the key always stops precisely with out bounce and the hammer line doesn't wander Dale -----Original Message----- From: Paul Milesi <paul at pmpiano.com> To: PTG Pianotech List <pianotech at ptg.org> Sent: Sat, Dec 12, 2009 11:51 pm Subject: [pianotech] Effects of replacing keytops without routing down keysticks OK, I think I’m pushing my own envelope now, and really need some advice from the experts. I took on a 1915 Steinway M action for rebuilding (all new parts – verdigris). Have had it in storage for a few months because customer was out of the country and wanted me to take it. Anyway, now that I’m looking at it more closely, I realize that when the keys were recovered about 20 years ago with 1/16” plastic, no routing down of keysticks, but solid, clean job. Sharps appear to be the original ebony in very good shape. Keyframe felts are a mess. When I lifted backrail cloth, somebody shimmed it with a thin cardboard under the red felt and glued both sides of green down (isn’t backside usually not glued?). I’m guessing this was because the new keytops brought the keys too high for fallboard or hammer stop rail? However, my key height measurements show height about 3/32” lower than 2-19/32” spec. Dip is shallow, too. Relationship of sharp to natural is excellent as currently set up, however. I don’t have the piano here, so can’t check key height, etc. against case parts. :( With replacement keytops mentioned above, will I be able to make this action work after installing all new frame felts and new S&S hammers, shanks, flanges, wippens, let-off regulating buttons? Should I expect the worst, or might tolerances be wide enough that I can put a proper regulation on it? Are we ever lucky enough that when keytops have been replaced without routing keystick, the action still works? Thanks for any insight you can provide. Paul -- Paul Milesi, RPT Washington, DC (202) 667-3136 E-mail: paul at pmpiano.com Website: http://www.pmpiano.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/pianotech.php/attachments/20091213/fe20868b/attachment.htm>
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