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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Terry,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2> Ivory and bone are =
natural
materials. My experience in applying new ivory and bone as well as =
restoring
factory applied ivory and bone is this. Ivory is translucent (slightly =
see-thru)
and a linen wafer underneath makes it appear white. Bone is less
translucent and remains an off-white in appearance even with a linen =
wafer. I
have seen bone keytop material as white as ivory but it was from a =
German
company and they wont sell to me. Grain varies widely in ivory depending =
on the
"cut" it can be straight, wavy or the flame-point or fingerprint =
pattern we
all know and love. Bone has grain but it is usually straight or =
non-existent.
Both are hard, tricky to machine and hold an edge and buff well. Ivory =
has very
tight pores and bone is more porous, and if not surfaced properly will =
be very
evident. Ivory and bone will both become dirty if the pores are not =
saturated
with compound from buffing. This brings up a good point, buffing serves =
a few
purposes. Buffing saturates the pores with wax or compound and seals =
them,
this keeps dirt and moisture out, buffing also improves the =
appearance of
ivory, bone, and plastic by smoothing and making the surface flat =
and in
turn it will reflect more light and be visually more appealing. Buffing =
ivory
and bone at required intervals will prolong there life by preventing the =
elements from disintegrating them. Both ivory and bone are vulnerable to =
environmental changes (temperature and humidity). For example place an =
ivory
head in a moist face-cloth overnight and then look at it in the morning, =
you'll
be surprised to see the change in dimension and consistency. Both ivory =
and bone
will darken in color over time and I think bone appears to darken faster =
and it
may only be because the material is darker to begin with, not =
necessarily it's
composition. As far as feel, ivory and bone both grip your fingers, =
wick-off
moisture, and are less slippery than plastic. Ivory and bone are both =
very
durable if maintained properly. I have a 1860's square grand in my shop =
with a
wonderful set of original ivory. New ivory (legal pre-ban) and =
bone are
readily available. Ivory is more expensive and preferred but a lot of =
people
accept bone as a nice alternative to ivory.</FONT></DIV>
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<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: =
black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=terry@farrellpiano.com =
href="mailto:terry@farrellpiano.com">Terry</A>
</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A =
title=pianotech@ptg.org
href="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org">Pianotech</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Sunday, March 06, 2005 =
7:45
AM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: Moulded =
Keytops</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>What can you say about comparing and =
contrasting
bone and ivory (color, grain, feel, durability, etc.)? I've heard that =
bone is
more porous and gets dirtier more easily. Please educate =
us!</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Terry Farrell</FONT></DIV>
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<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><FONT face=Arial =
size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2> I apply keytops =
for a living
and there are several factors to consider when choosing a top. The =
quality
of the keytop, quality of the piano, quality of the rebuild, =
preference
of the customer, knowledge and preference of the technician and
budget. Crappy "molded" keytops are nice if applied properly,
and three thousand dollars worth of new ivory is "crappy" if =
not
applied properly. Molded keytops have the advantage of being =
inexpensive,
uniform in shape and appearance, and relatively easy to apply with =
minimal
skill, tooling and yields fair results. A disadvantage is that =
many
people feel that they are a cheap top and as a result do not use =
them. Other
materials ivory, bone and the variety of plastics are usually in a =
slab or
oversize form and require more skill, tooling and money. In addition =
when
you go from a molded keytop with fronts attached to a keytop without =
a front
attached you double your workload. Vagias is a simulated ivory top =
made of
plastic and I've found that people either like it or don't =
there is no
in between. Ivorine (pyralin) is still around and preferred to =
acrylics
because of the plastics available it feels similar to ivory. New =
ivory and
bone are available and preferred by most but are costly and not =
always in
the budget.</FONT></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>