Rob, I seem to remember a tech friend of mine soaking them in warm water for a bit. It will at least soften things and make them easier to scape off. I don't *think* it will hurt the ivory. As far as any 'chemical' type cleanup, about all you might need to do additionally, is scrape off something like contact cement that someone might have used to reglue an ivory. There you could even use lacquer thinner or acetone. After cleaning, just be sure the ivories are thoroughly dry before trying to use. If anything I've said here is incorrect, someone please correct me. Avery >Another question, I was wondering... > >Could anyone suggest a way to remove wood from the bottom of ivory key >tops? >Over the last several years I have been removing and collecting ivory >from old junk pianos. I really have quite an impressive collection now, >numerous shades and easily enough to recover the keys on several pianos >or more. One problem, however, is that quite often some wood comes off >with the ivory when removed. I have tried all types of scraping, >sanding, grinding, what have you. This usually results in breaking the >key top or gouging it so that the bottom is no longer even. I'm afraid >of using any kind of chemical for fear that it will either warp or >otherwise damage the ivory. It would sure be nice to get all these keys >cleaned off so that they are usable. Ideas? > >Rob Goodale, RPT
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