<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META content="text/html; charset=US-ASCII" http-equiv=Content-Type> <META name=GENERATOR content="MSHTML 8.00.6001.18372"></HEAD> <BODY style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial; COLOR: #000000; FONT-SIZE: 10pt" id=role_body bottomMargin=7 leftMargin=7 rightMargin=7 topMargin=7><FONT id=role_document color=#000000 size=2 face=Arial> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Hi David,</DIV> <DIV>I have come across this a lot over the years.  These East German 'Pianic' actions suffer a lot with this problem.  Zimmermann, Niendorf  etc. being typical names.  I have replaced all the hammer flanges with a Renner wood equivalent on 3 pianos over the years.   It was explained to me a long time ago that the type of synthetic adhesive used to glue the cloth to the plastic flange has seeped through the cloth and become sticky.  This is why Protec is only partly the answer.  For the n'th time I recently re-centered some hammer flanges on a Niendorf  which I have been visiting for the past 20 years.   The lever flanges presumably don't show up as much because they have more return weight on their side.  The jacks are plastic, but in a wooden flange?</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Richard</DIV></FONT></BODY></HTML>