<html xmlns:v="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" xmlns:o="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" xmlns:w="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:word" xmlns:m="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/2004/12/omml" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><head><meta http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=us-ascii"><meta name=Generator content="Microsoft Word 12 (filtered medium)"><style></style></head><body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>Wim:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>Yes, there does seem to be a humidity factor and I was wondering about how that might trigger a bad batch of lead.  At least the ones I’ve encountered did have exposure to high humidity, this one included.  My concern with just trimming them is that others that I’ve seen have expanded such that the keys were splitting.  If that happens on this piano with ivory on it , or in the underlevers then the cost of repair could skyrocket.  We will opt to replace everything and reweigh the keyset at the same go.  Of course, the value of the piano, in this case, does warrant it.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>Aloha.  <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>David Love<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'>www.davidlovepianos.com<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div style='border:none;border-top:solid #B5C4DF 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in'><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'>From:</span></b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'> pianotech-bounces@ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces@ptg.org] <b>On Behalf Of </b>tnrwim@aol.com<br><b>Sent:</b> Tuesday, March 12, 2013 1:52 PM<br><b>To:</b> pianotech@ptg.org<br><b>Subject:</b> Re: [pianotech] Expanding leads<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black'>David<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black'> <o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black'>Good to meet you at the Westpac. It's always good to put a face with a name<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black'> <o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black'>In the 28 years when I was in St. Louis and Alabama, I ran across one piano with expanding leads. Now that I am here in Hawaii, I have had at least 40 pianos with expanding leads. So I am presuming that a lot of humidity has something to do with it. But I have talked with the other techs here, and none of us seem to know exactly why it is happening, especially since all the leads don't all corrode on the same piano. I've had Sohmers, Yamahas, Kimballs, Baldwins, and even a few Steinways with this problem. But, again, there might be 40 - 50 keys in one set that are expanding, but not all of them. So it's not necessarily the compound of the lead, since it is presumed that the leads used in one piano all came out of the same batch.  <o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black'> <o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black'> When I first got here, I was advised to chisel the leads down to the sides of the key, and spraying them with Shellac. But after a few years, those leads expanded again. So now I give the customer the option of replacing the leads or drilling them down. So far none of my customers have opted for the replacement process, mainly because the pianos do not justify the cost involved. What I am doing now is using a forstner bit to drill the leads down below the surface of the key about 1/16" and then spraying the lead with Shellac. The cost of doing that is about half of a new set. I know this is not a permanent solution, and it does change the touch weight on the keys a little, but as I tell the customer it will be 15 - 20 years before the leads expand to where they touch each other again, and by that time, it's not my problem any more. And most customers agree that it won't be their problem, either.  <o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black'> <o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black'>But on your Bosey, the cost of replacing, and weighing, is definitely worth it. <o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black'> <o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black'>Wim<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:12.0pt'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black'>-----Original Message-----<br>From: David Love <<a href="mailto:davidlovepianos@comcast.net">davidlovepianos@comcast.net</a>><br>To: pianotech <<a href="mailto:pianotech@googlegroups.com">pianotech@googlegroups.com</a>><br>Cc: pianotech <<a href="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org">pianotech@ptg.org</a>><br>Sent: Tue, Mar 12, 2013 10:27 am<br>Subject: [pianotech] Expanding leads<o:p></o:p></span></p><div id="AOLMsgPart_0_0e93085f-8284-4d7d-956f-570771ecd3c4"><pre style='background:white'><tt><span style='color:black'>While I have run into expanding lead problems periodically generally they seem <o:p></o:p></span></tt></pre><pre style='background:white'><tt><span style='color:black'>to have been reserved for "lesser" pianos.  Today I found a 1950's Boesendorfer <o:p></o:p></span></tt></pre><pre style='background:white'><tt><span style='color:black'>200 with leads expanding both in the back action and the keys to the extent that <o:p></o:p></span></tt></pre><pre style='background:white'><tt><span style='color:black'>they were binding on their neighbors and on the verge of splitting things.  Of <o:p></o:p></span></tt></pre><pre style='background:white'><tt><span style='color:black'>course I will have to remove and replace, a large task considering the new <o:p></o:p></span></tt></pre><pre style='background:white'><tt><span style='color:black'>weigh-off at the key end that will be required.<o:p></o:p></span></tt></pre><pre style='background:white'><tt><span style='color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></tt></pre><pre style='background:white'><tt><span style='color:black'>My question is what is it that causes that reaction and why after such a time <o:p></o:p></span></tt></pre><pre style='background:white'><tt><span style='color:black'>does it happen.  This is some 60 years later. <o:p></o:p></span></tt></pre><pre style='background:white'><tt><span style='color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></tt></pre><pre style='background:white'><tt><span style='color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></tt></pre><pre style='background:white'><tt><span style='color:black'>David Love<o:p></o:p></span></tt></pre><pre style='background:white'><tt><span style='color:black'><a href="http://www.davidlovepianos.com" target="_blank">www.davidlovepianos.com</a><o:p></o:p></span></tt></pre><pre style='background:white'><tt><span style='color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></tt></pre><pre style='background:white'><tt><span style='color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></tt></pre></div></div></div></body></html>