[CAUT] VS Profelt

[Ed Sutton]

Maybe I wasn't clear. On the Baldwin it caused the hammers to expand and pop 
unglued from the cores. ed
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Porritt, David" <dporritt at mail.smu.edu>
To: <caut at ptg.org>
Sent: Wednesday, November 19, 2008 11:58 AM
Subject: Re: [CAUT] VS Profelt


Fred:

On the fabric softener...I've done it on rock hard hammers applied lightly 
with a small artist brush to the strike point.  It works and works well but 
using too much as Ed reported will do strange things to the shape of the 
hammer.  I only use it on hammers that are too hard for needles.

dp

David M. Porritt, RPT
dporritt at smu.edu

-----Original Message-----
From: caut-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:caut-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of Fred 
Sturm
Sent: Wednesday, November 19, 2008 9:32 AM
To: caut at ptg.org
Subject: Re: [CAUT] VS Profelt

On Nov 19, 2008, at 12:13 AM, Richard Brekne wrote:

> probably rather expensive compared to a water alcohol soak if one
> first wants to expand the hammer

I got some VS Profelt a few days ago and did some preliminary
examination. My take is that it is probably as high as 80-90% water, a
wee bit of alcohol (to reduce surface tension of the water and make it
penetrate fabric easier), some fabric softener, and the silicone
polymer. The residue from evaporating it is on the oily side in
texture, quite slippery (that's mostly the silicone).
How did I come up with this guesstimate? Looks, smell and texture to
start with. It's a lot "thicker" than alcohol, and evaporates like
water, in the sense of speed of evaporation and how cold it makes the
skin feel (a dab on the back of the hand, compared to water and to
alcohol and to 50/50 water alcohol). The smell is a "laundry" smell,
meaning it is probably one of the milder perfumes put into fabric
softeners. Definitely no alcohol smell to my nose. It doesn't flame
(like brandy, which is maybe 80 proof, or 40% alcohol).
All of which means that I would personally keep it away from hammers
(a bit brushed on the strike surface might be okay) and action
centers, on the grounds of being far too much water. It is probably
convenient and effective for key bushings and wipp cushions and the
like.
I got some unscented fabric softener (hard to find), and will do a
bit of experimentation on things like hard dampers and hammers. As I
wrote in an earlier post, Nick Gravagne swore by alcohol and fabric
softener for those rock hard hammers. I never got around to trying.
For dampers, I would try more water in the formulation. Certainly the
silicone is useless for both applications.
At $12 a quart, VSP is too pricey for my wallet unless it turns out
to be very extra special indeed, if I can buy a lifetime supply of
softener for $5, and use either powdered teflon or Protek for
lubrication. I'll be trying it out to see whether it out-performs
"homebrew." Or steaming and heated cauls for key bushings.
Regards,
Fred Sturm
University of New Mexico
fssturm at unm.edu