[pianotech] (no subject)

[Douglas Gregg]

Paul,
I am assuming that you were asking about how to clean the strings but
Al's suggestion on using scrubbing bubbles to clean the plate is one I
posted and I totally agree. That will clean the plate very nicely. I
actually have found I like a round parts cleaning brush from an auto
store because it has 2 inch long stiff nylon bristles that get down
between the strings or between the tuning pins. They are cheap ($2). I
used to use a cheap 4 inch brush but the hairs have to be combed out
fairly often if you want to reach all the way down to the soundboard.
The stiffer parts brush can easily reach the soundboard through the
strings to stir up the dirt in order to vacuum it up through the
strings. But I am getting ahead of the story.

First, clean the rusty strings with a maroon Scotchbright pad dampened
with Ballistol gun oil. It dissolves the rust and helps to hold the
rust in the scotchbright pad rather than distributing the rust and
debris down to the plate or soundboard as the eraser does. When the
strings are clean and bright-and it only take a minute or two, then
use the scrubbing bubbles with the long bristle brush and a strong
vacuum/blower to brush and blow the bubbles out from under the
strings. I like using a Metro vac in blower mode to blow the bubbles
to a corner where I have a rag ready to soak up the bubbles and dirt.
It takes longer to describe it than to do it. An air compressor works
too. If a shop vac is really strong, it may suck up the bubbles from
below the strings also. Use a crevis tool to get the strongest
suction. Let us know how you like the method.

Doug Gregg
Classic Piano Doc


Message: 1
Date: Tue, 23 Oct 2012 13:29:11 -0400
From: Al Guecia/Allied PianoCraft <alliedpianocraft at hotmail.com>
To: paulmulik at yahoo.com, pianotech at ptg.org
Subject: Re: [pianotech] Cleaning tuning pins
Message-ID: <BLU0-SMTP174982B2071E2C0F5B01B43DD790 at phx.gbl>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="windows-1252"

The short version.......Scrubbing bubbles. paint brush, vacuum cleaner.

Al -
High Point, NC



On Oct 22, 2012, at 8:45 AM, Paul Mulik <paulmulik at yahoo.com> wrote:

I'm fixing up a Samick vertical. It's a quick craigslist flip, needs
only minor repairs and some cosmetic work.

The nickel-plated tuning pins were looking dull and a little rusty, so
I polished them up with one of those gizmos with the rubber cylinder
inserts that chucks into an electrical drill.  I also shined the
treble strings up with one of those hard rubber polishers that looks
like a brown eraser.  This all worked great and everything's nice and
shiny now except for the non-speaking segments of the strings in the
tuning pin area. Any suggestions on how to clean that area?

Thanks,
Paul Mulik
Sent from my U.S. Cellular BlackBerry? smartphone