<!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 6.00.2600.0" name=GENERATOR>
<STYLE></STYLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY bgColor=#ffffff>
<DIV>Mickey, Mike, Ken, List.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>You are both right and I agree with all. Have done it both ways and =
have
come up with these answers.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Planing or routing the keytops down, then sanding level to =
give an
overall thickness of the key as per the original specs has always been =
my
method.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>I am sick and tired of tuning pianos with new keytops just stuck on =
after
the ivories have been removed so I bought a set of sharps cut the old =
ones off
and stuck the new ones on. Viola, problem solved.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Point is I now believe that I have been doing it the wrong way. =
What I
should have been doing is replacing both the thicker white and thinker =
black
keytops. Less tools required, minimal jigs in fact I did the above =
on a
piano in the house with just filing the sides of the keys. And it worked =
out
fine. (*customer was 800 kilometres from workshop anyway)</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Regards</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Tony Caught<BR>Australia<BR><A
href="mailto:caute@bigpond.com">caute@bigpond.com</A><BR></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; =
BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: =
black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=mkurta@adelphia.net =
href="mailto:mkurta@adelphia.net">Mike Kurta</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> Friday, February 14, 2003 =
6:18
AM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: keytops</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2> Ken, I beg to =
differ. It
is vital to keep the overall height of the key and keytop the same =
AFTER the
new tops are installed as they were BEFORE. If one is =
removing the original thin ivory and replacing with thick plastic, the =
key
will be substanstially higher when put back into the piano. This =
can
lead to the keys contacting the fallboard, keeping them from returning =
to
their full up position, causing the tops of the sharps to be level =
with the
naturals when depressed, and/or a myriad of regulation problems. =
The
first rule of keytop replacement is "maintain the original =
dimensions."
If you are replacing old with new of the same thickness, fine. =
If not,
there may be a problem. FWIW......</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2> Mike =
Kurta</FONT></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; =
BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: =
black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=kennyfin@jetstream.net =
href="mailto:kennyfin@jetstream.net">KENNETH
FINLAYSON</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A =
title=pianotech@ptg.org
href="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org">pianotech@ptg.org</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Thursday, February 13, =
2003 1:37
PM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> keytops</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Take your time, Mickey. Never take =
any wood off
a key.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Kenny
</FONT></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>