What happens when after you sand it, you buff it, and then you spray it with brass lacquer? Would that work? That's essentially the process I use here to protect hardware from corroding prematurely. I'm with Joe on this one, your hardware can be cleaned and polished, but it has to be protected too.<div>
<br></div><div>William R. Monroe</div><div><br></div><div><br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Wed, Oct 5, 2011 at 10:29 PM, <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:tnrwim@aol.com">tnrwim@aol.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex;">
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<div><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Joe</font></div>
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<div>All hardware exposed to salt air in Hawaii <strong>cannot</strong> be "polished". We , (the other technicians and I), have tried various methods, but nothing works. We can sand the metal parts to get rid of the rust and crud, but then all you have left is unpolished hardware, that rusts. Yes, it can be plated, but here in Hawaii it's very expensive. There is only one company that does that here, and they are not only expensive but do a lousy job. So the only alternative is to ship it to a company on the mainland. I just did a whole set of Steinway hardware, and shipping alone was $45, each way. </div>
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<div>So just send me the ugliest, crudiets looking screw you have, and it will fit in just perfect. The customer is not expecting anything less. </div>
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<div>Wim<br>
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<div style="font-family:arial,helvetica;color:black;font-size:10pt">-----Original Message-----<br>
From: Joseph Garrett <<a href="mailto:joegarrett@earthlink.net" target="_blank">joegarrett@earthlink.net</a>><br>
To: pianotech <<a href="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org" target="_blank">pianotech@ptg.org</a>><br>
Sent: Wed, Oct 5, 2011 10:46 am<br>
Subject: Re: [pianotech] Nasty screw<br>
<br>
<div style="background-color:#fff;margin:0px;font-family:Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, Sans-Serif;color:#000;font-size:12px"><pre style="font-size:9pt"><tt>Wim said: "The pressure bars and screws are rusty and corroded, and because
the rust and corrosion was caused by salt air, they can't be cleaned."
Wim,
I don't understand why they "..can't be cleaned"? Over the years, I've had
to make some pretty nasty metal look presentable. There are several ways to
do this. 1. Replate. (I suspect that there is no such thing as a metal
plater on the Islands?) 2. Wire brush all the nasty stuff off and buff to a
high polish. At that point, you have the option of Bluing or simply
spraying with lacquer. There ya have it. What ever you do, it'll certainly
look better than rust and crud, imo. BTW, if you coat the screws with clear
polyester they will be less susceptable to corrosion than any other coating
I've found.
Joe
Joe Garrett, R.P.T.
Captain of the Tool Police
Squares R I
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