Key bushing question

[Susan Kline]

Maybe the Prolube is mixing it up with the McLube and/or the bushing cloth?

Have you tried rebushing without the lubes, and seen what happened then?

Good luck

Susan

At 10:11 AM 7/3/2002 -0500, you 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