<!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 6.00.2900.3157" name=GENERATOR></HEAD> <BODY id=role_body style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: Arial" bottomMargin=7 leftMargin=7 topMargin=7 rightMargin=7><FONT id=role_document face=Arial color=#000000 size=2> <DIV> <DIV>In a message dated 9/24/07 10:19:37 A.M. Hawaiian Standard Time, JD@Pianomaker.co.uk writes:</DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: blue 2px solid"><FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" face=Arial color=#000000 size=2>At 05:36 -0400 24/9/07, Wimblees@aol.com wrote:<BR><BR>>...SoÊif these leads are oxidizing in just a few years, then <BR>>wouldn'tÊnew leadsÊdo the same thing in a couple of years, <BR>>consideringÊwhere the piano is located?<BR><BR>No, unless the new leads were as impure as the originals.  Good lead <BR>does not oxidize like that.  For over 100 years action makers and <BR>keymakers have from time to time been sold bad lead and used it <BR>probably without thinking of the need to have it analysed.  There is <BR>no excuse nowadays for not making sure the lead is pure.  Only <BR>certain pianos from certain eras are prone to this problem.  For <BR>example I was called out to a ca. 1910 Bechestein not long ago where <BR>the oxidation was so bad that all the keys and damper bodies were <BR>jammed together.  I have just taken in a 1923 Bechstein that has no <BR>sign of oxidation.  Both pianos have spent their lives at the <BR>sea-side, but that is hardly relevant.  I've just removed perfect <BR>leads from an upright of 1875 which had spent its life in Liverpool, <BR>one of the most industrialised sea-ports.<BR><BR>JD</FONT></BLOCKQUOTE></DIV> <DIV></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I wonder if there is something else going on here besides the quality of the leads. I just recently had the same problem with a 30 year old Kimball grand. The leads were so bad that none of the keys worked. I wound up breaking off 3 hammers taking the action out, because the keys wouldn't come up. And I have just done a set of keys from a 20 year old K&C console with a dampp-chaser inside. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Why would some key leads corrode, and not others, even from the same company? </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT lang=0 face=Arial size=2 FAMILY="SANSSERIF" PTSIZE="10">Willem (Wim) Blees, RPT<BR>Piano Tuner/Technician<BR>Honolulu, Hawaii<BR>Author, "The Business of Piano Tuning".<BR>available from Potter Press.<BR>www.pianotuning.com</FONT></DIV></FONT><BR><BR><BR><DIV><FONT style="color: black; font: normal 10pt ARIAL, SAN-SERIF;"><HR style="MARGIN-TOP: 10px">See what's new at <A title="http://www.aol.com?NCID=AOLCMP00300000001170" href="http://www.aol.com?NCID=AOLCMP00300000001170" target="_blank">AOL.com</A> and <A title="http://www.aol.com/mksplash.adp?NCID=AOLCMP00300000001169" href="http://www.aol.com/mksplash.adp?NCID=AOLCMP00300000001169" target="_blank">Make AOL Your Homepage</A>.</FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>