One Piece Ivory

[Douglas H. Kirkwood]

John;

There has been in the past, one piece ivory covering, and some of us still
do it today ( on request, but costing big bucks - all with legal ivory
only). However, to avoid the cracking problem at the notch, the ivory must
be very thick - roughly an eighth of an inch thick! Look for grain with the
keys angled differently in the light. Also, ivory keys will show wear such
as cupping, especially in the middle of the keyboard where plastic rarely
does.

Hope this helps.

Doug Kirkwood, RPT
-----Original Message-----
From: John Lillico, RPT <staytuned@idirect.com>
To: pianotech@ptg.org <pianotech@ptg.org>
Date: Sunday, 02 April, 2000 1:39 AM
Subject: One Piece Ivory


>Was there ever such a covering as one piece ivory? I've always seen ivory
as a "head" and a "tail" with a (usually) visible crack. I've always used
this crack to distinguish between ivory and plastic.
>
>Today, a 75 year old lady tells me her chipped keys on a 1934 Sherlock
Manning are ivory! I say they are plastic because there's no separation
between head and tail. She says her parents bought the piano when she was
nine and, except for a time when she ran away from home at 19 to get
married, says that the keys have NEVER been recovered in plastic.
>
>Sixty per cent of the overhangs are chipped and she thinks they can be
repaired like teeth. How can I convince her that these tops are plastic? Or
are they?
>
>John Lillico, RPT,
>Oakville ON  Canada
>
>
>