[CAUT] Fwd: Does V S Profelt work in reverse?

[reggaepass at aol.com]

Hi Fred,



Thanks for all your good suggestions. I'll give them a shot!




Alan


-----Original Message-----
From: Fred Sturm <fssturm at unm.edu>
To: caut at ptg.org
Sent: Tue, 7 Apr 2009 1:56 pm
Subject: Re: [CAUT] Fwd: Does V S Profelt work in reverse?







Hi Alan,
    A couple other thoughts: you might try simply adding moisture to the picture. Apply water to the surface with a brush, for instance, before inserting the cauls. Or steam (as I have described in an earlier post, using a steamer followed by the heated cauls). Water is a major component in the felting process, so if you want a "semi-permanent" result, you want both heat and moisture. Think of ironing a pair of wool pants (I guess that's a image not too many of us have anymore, so maybe substitute cotton). Without steam to help, it takes a lot more time and pressure to get the fibers to lie down evenly (become smoothly ironed). If you live in a damp climate, there is usually enough moisture already in the fabric. In a dry climate, things are different. BTW, this applies to burning/twisting shanks as well. I find it often helps, and is necessary, to wipe the shanks with a wet cloth a couple times before using the heat gun.

 About the mortise size, mortises and balance holes become smaller when the wood is dried - moved to a drier climate. I find that almost all my new pianos need to have balance holes reamed and bushings well-ironed after they have been here a while.

 

Regards,

Fred Stur
m

University of New Mexico

fssturm at unm.edu





 



On Apr 6, 2009, at 11:17 AM, reggaepass at aol.com wrote:



List, 

 
 
I am working on a twenty year old Baldwin R which has not been played much.  The front rail key bushings were in various stages of too tight.  The key pins are .145", so I initially eased with a .147" straight broach in a rheostat controlled soldering iron (set to a setting used successfully on many previous outings).  Barely made any difference at all.  Stepped it up to the next larger size broach, .150".  Things improved but just barely.  I was not getting the slight but positive "knock" from side to side that I usually work for, but the keys were at least coming back up (!).  I don't know if the bushing cloth is too thick, or too spongy, or if the mortise was somehow too small to begin with (if that is even a possibility), but I do not have great hopes for the keys remaining functional for long as some are already showing signs of needing to be eased again.
 

 
 
So my question is this: Has anyone used V S Profelt with appropriately sized cauls overnight as an effective fix for bushings that are too tight?
 

 
 
Thanks,
 

 
 
Alan Eder
 

 
 
  

 

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