[pianotech] Applying PVC-E to new plastic keytops - another alternative

Ron Nossaman rnossaman at cox.net
Fri Jan 1 17:15:34 MST 2010


David Weiss wrote:
> Contact cement works well but it’s toxic, and since there are other good 
> options it seems best not to use it.

Some seem to have no problem with it, but I've seen enough 
failures to not want to find out why first hand.


> However I must admit I’ve not clamped my plastic keytops down.  I 
> experimented on old keys and I’ve not been able to pull a keytop off 
> that I’ve glued on without clamping.  I hope this doesn’t come back to 
> haunt me years from now.

Clamping isn't for bond strength. PVCE is vastly stronger, 
whatever the thickness of the glue line, than is necessary to 
hold key tops on. Hairs are being split needlessly about which 
glue is stronger. For me, clamping is to make sure the top 
stays relatively flat to the top and front of the key. Squeeze 
out is just an indication that I have at least as much glue in 
there as I need, nothing more. I've had keytop sets that were 
slightly bowed, and some kind of clamp, even if only masking 
tape, was necessary to keep them down.

Ron N


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