Key bushing question

Michelle L Stranges stranges@Oswego.EDU
Wed Jul 3 09:40 MDT 2002


I too have seen this problem..and on older upright damper spoons!!
UGH. 
NASTY it is.
I was THINKING that maybe it had something to do with not doing a good job
in  removing the flitz that I used to polish the pins with. ( which does a
nice job, BTW..) 
I get a reddish/pink powder on the pins not TOO long after doing a
fine/carefull rebushing job. Maybe this stuff leads to the "sandpaper" stuff
on the pins????
Hmmmmm...

I have only seen your problem on some grand pianos, but mostly on upright
spoons.

Good question, and I hope someone else has an answer. 
Suppose my post was just for moral support...

:) cheers!!

Michelle
stranges@oswego.edu


--On Wed, Jul 3, 2002 10:11 AM -0500 "Thomas D. Seay, III"
<t.seay@mail.utexas.edu> wrote: 

> 
> Dear Colleagues, 
> 
> 
> I would like to take a minute of your time to ask if any of you have
experienced the following situation regarding worn key bushings. 
> 
> 
>   € The keys are carefully rebushed in the customary way, using hot hide
glue, Renner bushing cloth, Spurlock sizing and key bushing cauls, and are
carefully fitted to the keyboard. I emphasize the word careful so as to
forstall questions of quality control during the bushing process. 
>   € Any nicked or damaged pins are replaced with new ones. 
>   € The keyframe pins are cleaned, polished and lubed with McLube and the
bushings are lubricated with ProLube. 
>   € After 6 months to a year, the key bushings, usually but not always
front bushings, have deteriorated to the point of having excessive side to
side motion. This usually occurs in the middle of the keyboard and is found
on both naturals and sharps. 
>   € Upon examining the front guide pins, we discover a hard red substance
on one side or the other, usually on the left (bass) side of the pin, which
acts like sandpaper and gradually wears away the key bushing cloth.  I
assume that this could be a combination of glue and bushing cloth dust. 
>   € This only occurs on about a half-dozen or so Steinways (circa 1978)
with Pratt-Reed keyboards. 
>   € I have replaced front key pins in a few instances and the problem
usually returns. 
>   € We use the same careful procedure on each piano keyboard we rebush,
but it always seems to be the same pianos which end up with the loose
bushings.
> 
> 
> 
> I have one piano, a Steinway model L, on which I have to rebush keys every
spring because of this problem. It gets a tremendous amount of hard playing
every day, but so do all of the other pianos here, most of which don't have
this problem. 
> 
> 
> Any ideas about what might be going on? 
> 
> 
> Many thanks. 
> 
> 
> Tom Seay 
> 
> -----------------------
> Tom Seay
> Piano Tech Office
> School of Music
> The University of Texas at Austin
> (512) 232-2072
> mailto:t.seay@mail.utexas.edu
> 




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