[pianotech] WD40 on pinblock

[David Nereson]

I had a well-meaning cohort who thought it would be prudent to clean all
the rust off the tuning pin coils with WD40 and a wire wheel in a Dremel
tool.  It looked real pretty when he was done, but the pinblock was
ruined.  Pins that were already quite loose slipped their bonds and went
WAAAYYY flat.  The piano was untunable.  It had already been doped AND
treated with CA glue.  The WD40 finished if off.  Time for new block and
restringing.
Trouble is, it's a no-name mediocre 5-ft. grand.  Barely worth it.
--David Nereson, RPT

On Wed, Aug 22, 2012 at 3:28 PM, David Boyce <David at piano.plus.com> wrote:

>  Yesterday I visited a new client, a very nice family who have a 1912
> Bechstein model 10 upright, straight strung.  A music student lodges with
> the family during term time and they wanted the piano ready for him coming
> back.  There had been another tuner some months ago.
>
> What, I mused aloud upon taking off the top panel, was the strange
> discoloration on the surface of the pinblock?  I was then told that the
> previous tuner had used WD40, applying it to the tuning pin coils in case
> of any rust bonds.
>
> My inclination would be to keep WD40 or any similar lubricant a mile away
> from tuning pins.  But hey, whadda I know? Perhaps this other guy is more
> up-to-date than I?
>
> What do you think folks?  How "creepy" is WD40? Quite creepy, I think,
> judging by how it's crept all over and into the surface of the pinblock.
> And judging by how oily my fingers came to feel just from slight contact as
> I lifted the tuning lever from pin to pin.
>
> How badly is it likely to have crept down the tuning pins into the holes?
> The pins felt a little loose but not outrageously oleaginously so.  Would
> CA treatment work, with WD40 present?
>
> Best regards,
>
> David.
> www.davidboyce.co.uk
>
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