<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML xmlns="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40" xmlns:v = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" xmlns:o = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" xmlns:w = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:word" xmlns:st1 = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.6000.16481" name=GENERATOR><o:SmartTagType name="PostalCode" namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"></o:SmartTagType><o:SmartTagType name="State" namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"></o:SmartTagType><o:SmartTagType name="City" namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"></o:SmartTagType><o:SmartTagType name="place" namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"></o:SmartTagType><o:SmartTagType name="PersonName" namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"></o:SmartTagType> <STYLE>  </STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY lang=EN-US vLink=purple link=blue bgColor=white> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>A word of caution about using a table saw (or other power tool) to remove key fronts or keytops.  Some of the older pianos used nitro-cellulous based plastic which is very flammable.  It's the same material they used to use for flash powder or gun cotton.  I just about lost my shop one time when a piece of this material heated up in my saw and all the material on the floor ignited in a huge fireball.  Luckily I had a fire extinguisher at hand and put it out.  I never removed the burn marks from the base of the saw so that I would always be reminded of how dangerous this stuff can be.</FONT></DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px"> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV> <DIV style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B> <A title=deanmay@pianorebuilders.com href="mailto:deanmay@pianorebuilders.com">Dean May</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=pianotech@ptg.org href="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org">'Pianotech List'</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Sunday, July 22, 2007 6:10 PM</DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> RE: Removing key fronts</DIV> <DIV><BR></DIV> <DIV class=Section1> <P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial color=navy size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Ditto, sort of. I clamp a piece of wood on the fence, lower the blade, then move the fence over until the left edge of the wood just covers the left edge of the saw blade. Turn the saw on and slowly raise the blade allowing it to cut a semi-circle into your new wood fence. After you get the blade  a couple inches higher than your key, lower it slightly and turn off. You now have a fence that you can set for cutting thinner than the saw kerf. Just move the fence over to the right to get the thickness you wish to cut off the key. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P> <P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial color=navy size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P> <P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial color=navy size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">My Ryobi saw has a built miter sled that makes the job a snap. I just square the key against the miter fence, push the front against my wooden fence, increase my grip on the key against the miter fence and push through the blade. For keys with the dogleg going the wrong way (ie, bass) I flip the miter fence around and hold the key against the near side of the miter fence. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P> <P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial color=navy size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P> <P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial color=navy size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">To set your cut depth, use a scrap piece of wood and cut just a small corner. Hold your new keyfront on that corner to see if the cut is deep enough to make it flush. Adjust accordingly.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P> <P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial color=navy size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P> <P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial color=navy size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Once you are set up it goes really fast.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P> <P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial color=navy size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P> <P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial color=navy size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">There is also in the Journal a series of articles by Bill Spurlock on recovering keys with a nifty jig to do this job on a router. I think they are from the early eighties. If you have the Journal on CD (why wouldn’t you?) you can get them by searching on author. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P> <P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Arial color=navy size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P> <DIV> <P class=MsoAutoSig><B><FONT face="Bradley Hand ITC" color=navy size=6><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 22pt; COLOR: navy; FONT-FAMILY: 'Bradley Hand ITC'">Dean</SPAN></FONT></B><FONT color=navy><SPAN style="COLOR: navy"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P> <P class=MsoAutoSig style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><U1:PERSONNAME u2:st="on"><st1:PersonName w:st="on"><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=navy size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: navy">Dean May</SPAN></FONT></st1:PersonName></U1:PERSONNAME><FONT color=navy><SPAN style="COLOR: navy">             cell 812.239.3359 <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P> <P class=MsoAutoSig style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=navy size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: navy">PianoRebuilders.com   812.235.5272 <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P> <P class=MsoAutoSig style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><U1:PLACE u2:st="on"><U1:CITY u2:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on"><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=navy size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: navy">Terre Haute</SPAN></FONT></st1:City><FONT color=navy><SPAN style="COLOR: navy"></U1:CITY> <U1:STATE u2:st="on"><st1:State w:st="on">IN</U1:STATE></st1:State>  <U1:POSTALCODE u2:st="on"><st1:PostalCode w:st="on">47802</U1:POSTALCODE></st1:PostalCode></SPAN></FONT></st1:place></U1:PLACE><o:p></o:p></P></DIV> <DIV> <DIV class=MsoNormal style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" align=center><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"> <HR tabIndex=-1 align=center width="100%" SIZE=2> </SPAN></FONT></DIV> <P class=MsoNormal><B><FONT face=Tahoma size=2><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma">From:</SPAN></FONT></B><FONT face=Tahoma size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma"> pianotech-bounces@ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces@ptg.org] <B><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">On Behalf Of </SPAN></B>Mike Kurta<BR><B><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Sent:</SPAN></B> Sunday, July 22, 2007 4:56 PM<BR><B><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">To:</SPAN></B> fretsandkeys@earthlink.net; <st1:PersonName w:st="on">Pianotech List</st1:PersonName><BR><B><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Subject:</SPAN></B> Re: Removing key fronts</SPAN></FONT><o:p></o:p></P></DIV> <P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P> <DIV> <P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Tahoma size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma">    Hi Bill:</SPAN></FONT><o:p></o:p></P></DIV> <DIV> <P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Tahoma size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma">    You will get lots of answers to your question.  My favorite method is using a table saw.  I clamp a stop block ahead of the blade which gives you a depth adjustment.  By carefully setting it up, you can cut just the front off the end of the key, or if your new material is thicker than the old, you can cut an additional thin slice of wood off at the same time.  You may have to make up a jig attached to the miter guide because of the angles on the keys.  Then holding the key firmly to the guide, push the key slowly through the blade.  You can do a set in 15 minutes.  You can do a similar process using a radial arm saw.  </SPAN></FONT><o:p></o:p></P></DIV> <DIV> <P class=MsoNormal><FONT face=Tahoma size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma">    Mike Kurta</SPAN></FONT><o:p></o:p></P></DIV></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>