verdigris

[Fred Sturm]

I've also had good luck with protek CPL. The trick is to move each joint
physically _side to side_. For hammer flanges, bump the birdseye against
each side of the flange, for example. Make sure you can feel the bump
both ways. Bump it back and forth a couple times. With practice it's a
pretty rapid process - grab and do a little nervous jerky jerky. Wippens
and jacks similarly. Just applying, or just applying and swinging them,
is nowhere near as effective or permanent. Sometimes I reapply and
rebump side to side. I won't say it always works on every joint, but on
the majority it has. At least for me. And they've stayed reasonably free
for a few years so far (after three or four, if the piano isn't used
much, the friction begins to show up again).
	Of course this is a matter of "make it work on a tight budget." If you
can replace parts, or if rebushing is viable, by all means do so. I
certainly give my customer no guarantee as to how long and how well a
Protek treatment will last. 
Regards,
Fred Sturm
University of New Mexico

Daniel Dover wrote:
> 
> --- You wrote:
> My question is this: is there a solution that anyone knows of that will
> attack this vertigris
> --- end of quote ---
> 
> Michelle,
> 
> As long as the bushings have not been previously  treated with anything else, I
> have found that Protek does an excellent (and long-lasting) job of overcoming
> verdigris in action centers. I treated some actions years ago that are still
> functioning well. Depending on the severity of the verdigris, I needed to
> re-apply Protek to a handful of parts later on, and perhaps one or two will
> continue to be a bit stubborn. But, overall, I consider the Protek to be a very
> satisfactory solution to the problem.
> 
> Danny Dover
> Dartmouth College
> Hanover, NH