[CAUT] slippery keys

[William Monroe]

Don,

I'd recommend starting with something less aggressive, like 0000 steel
wool.  Very easy to reverse if necessary, but also, I'd suspect you don't
really need much of a friction increase to satisfy your customer.  If it's
not enough, it's easier to go to a more coarse finish than it would be to
find out p400 is too coarse and have to go finer.

William R. Monroe



On Sun, Dec 6, 2009 at 9:32 PM, Donald McKechnie <dmckech at ithaca.edu> wrote:

> All,
>
> About 6 months ago a customer of mine finally replaced his very badly
> deteriorated ivory key tops. He is a very good pianist and got used to the
> old ivory but it was time to replace. He could not afford replacing with
> ivory or bone so a good plastic replacement was the only option.
> Unfortunately he has not adapted to the new key tops. After playing on the
> old ivories for so many years (which had good grip at least) he feels that
> his fingers are slipping around the new plastic too much.
>
> The new plastic does not look like anything out of the ordinary to me so
> I'm ruling out any defect for the moment. He plays other pianos on a regular
> basis that have plastic keys but he feels these new key tops are more
> slippery than others. I suppose older plastic might have a bit more grip as
> they wear but I have never had a complaint about new key tops being too
> slippery.
>
> My first thought is to rub them out a bit with 400 grit sandpaper and see
> if that helps. I can always buff them on the wheel if that does not work.
> Anyone have an experience like this and any remedies?
>
> Thanks,
> Don
>
>
> Don McKechnie
> Piano Technician
> Ithaca College
> dmckech at ithaca.edu
> 607.274.3908
>
>
>
>
>
>
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