<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.6000.16481" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV><STRONG><FONT face=Arial>I am obviously not up with the composition, of the different 'plastics'. I still look at them as 'plastic' regardless of what the really are.</FONT></STRONG></DIV> <DIV><STRONG><FONT face=Arial>I wasn't meaning the bushing as not being able to be reamed, I was wondering if the, what I now know is Styran, would have enough 'give' for the larger pin, or would it split.</FONT></STRONG></DIV> <DIV><STRONG><FONT face=Arial>And yes, I did have a spare, and replaced it.</FONT></STRONG></DIV> <DIV>John M. Ross<BR>Windsor, Nova Scotia, Canada<BR><A href="mailto:jrpiano@win.eastlink.ca">jrpiano@win.eastlink.ca</A></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=IFixPianos@yahoo.com href="mailto:IFixPianos@yahoo.com">Michael Magness</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> Monday, August 13, 2007 9:21 PM</DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: Plastic Flanges, Repair or Replace?</DIV> <DIV><BR></DIV> <DIV>I have to assume since you say the piano is only 10 years old that it is a Kawai? What you are working with ISN'T plastic, plastics are petroleum based and were tried in pianos years ago and were an abysmal failure! </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Kawai uses Styran, a rubber based man made material that has been a wonderfull success for them. The glue to rebush would be the PVC glue, the same glue you use to glue keytops to wood. I have not experienced loose pins just the occasional tight one. I don't understand not reaming for a larger pin unless the felt was worn through to the styran? </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>My understanding is the flanges are cheaper to produce yet have closer tolerances and are impervious to humidity. My point being, perhaps keeping a small supply of them on hand and tossing them, rather than rebushing them might be more economical. At some point you need to look at cost vs. time spent doing the repair of a readily available, fairly economical item. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>One other point, do not under any circumstances use the alcohol & water treatment on the styran flanges if you feel they are too tight. The alcohol makes the styran brittle and will ruin it. If you have a few just re-pin if you have many use Naptha& water in a 50/50 mix. </DIV> <DIV><BR> </DIV> <DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE class=gmail_quote style="PADDING-LEFT: 1ex; MARGIN: 0px 0px 0px 0.8ex; BORDER-LEFT: #ccc 1px solid"> <DIV bgcolor="#ffffff"> <DIV>Michael Magness<BR>Magness Piano Service<BR>608-786-4404<BR><A href="http://www.IFixPianos.com">www.IFixPianos.com</A><BR>email <A href="mailto:mike@ifixpianos.com">mike@ifixpianos.com</A> </DIV></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>