<!doctype html public "-//W3C//DTD W3 HTML//EN"> <html><head><style type="text/css"></style><title>Re: Installing new key end felts</title></head><body> <div><font color="#000088">At 3:00 pm -0400 5/8/06, Mark Dierauf wrote:</font></div> <div><font color="#000088"><br></font></div> <blockquote type="cite" cite><font color="#000088">...I apply the glue only to the felt, not to the keysticks. I</font></blockquote> <blockquote type="cite" cite><font color="#000088">use lengths of thin wood strips on top of the felt to apply even<br> pressure with two or three large spring clamps, and clamp each section</font></blockquote> <blockquote type="cite" cite><font color="#000088">down to the edge of my work bench...</font><br> <font color="#000088"></font></blockquote> <blockquote type="cite" cite><font color="#000088">...then slice the keys apart using a long blade in a large X-acto handle</font></blockquote> <div><font color="#000088"><br></font></div> <div><font color="#000088">At 9:11 pm -0400 5/8/06, Mark Dierauf wrote:</font><br> <font color="#000088"></font></div> <blockquote type="cite" cite><font color="#000088">Before I started using the longer blade (I used to use a single edged razor blade) and cutting from the top down I sometimes had slight problems because the sides of the felts weren't always parallel with the key sides. They sometimes therefore ended up a bit wider or narrower at the top...</font></blockquote> <div><font color="#000088"><br> <br> </font></div> <div><font color="#000088">I have some suggestions to make. First, the glue must be hot and of the consistency of warm syrup, and it should be applied quickly to the key tails, say a dozen at a time, all nicely aligned and held tight together.  I would never apply glue to an absorbent material like felt, but always to the wood, and I've always thought this was common workshop practice.  Immediately the key ends have been brushed with the glue, put on the felt strip and press it down with the fingers so that the glue gets a good hold on the under-side of the felt.  No clamping is necessary but it's important to leave the keys undisturbed until the glue is set hard.</font></div> <div><font color="#000088"><br></font></div> <div><font color="#000088">For this sort of work I never use little disposable blades but have a variety of proper knives that I keep razor sharp using a belgian stone followed by a razor strop.  Illustrated below is a knife that would be ideal for this job.  This is made from an old cabinet scraper set in a beech handle, which happens to be the centre of a copper reel but could be anything.  The scraper is about 6" x 3" and the angle of the blade is very acute.  The handle serves also to preserve the angle of the blade while sharpening on the stone.</font></div> <div><font color="#000088"><br></font></div> <div><font color="#000088">With such a knife you'd have to be very careless to get anything but a perfectly vertical cut.  Please let me know off list if you can't see the inserted pictures.</font></div> <div><font color="#000088"><br></font></div> <div><font color="#000088">JD</font></div> <div><font color="#000088"><br></font></div> <div><font color="#000088"><br></font></div> <div><font color="#000088"><br></font></div> <div align="center"><img src="cid:p06240537c0fb59649aef@[10.0.0.1].1.0"></div> <div align="center"><font color="#000088"> <img src="cid:p06240537c0fb59649aef@[10.0.0.1].1.1"></font></div> <div align="center"><img src="cid:p06240537c0fb59649aef@[10.0.0.1].1.2"></div> </body> </html>