Ivory removal problems

[Clark]

Hi, Chris,

I buy travel irons whenever I find them in Salvation Army/Goodwill/pawn
shops (most recently a dual voltage thingee with a spray attachment for
like, $3.00). Among other things, these are great for ivory removal
since their handles are square so they can be clamped upside down.

Their highest setting usually works for ivory removal. I set up two or
three irons with cloth on top, and prepare a mixture of water with a
dash of acetic acid or wallpaper remover or both in a spray bottle. Set
pairs of keys top down on wetted cloth with a weight on top (bottom,
really) to keep them from falling. Steam rises at first, but not too
long (and which can tighten marginal front bushings) . When I remove the
first key from the iron (and rebalance the weight), usually I reload the
cloth with liquid to keep from overheating the second (maybe the other
pairs, too), then shimmy a thin break-off/extensible knife under the
ivory using the body for leverage if necessary and keeping the blade
off-perpendicular to the length of the key (with my holding hand always
below and behind the blade...now, at least). Mostly by the time the
first pair of keys are stripped, sorted, etc., the second is ready to
go. Sometimes I need to start from the tail, if key stick grain rises
toward the front.

It's a fairly efficient system, kind of a disassembly line, and works
for hide glue, wafers, even dumb rubber cement. If recalcitrant, I take
the keys off the heat 'till they cool and try again later, hopefully
some of the moisture penetrates meanwhile (I've had miserable
experiences letting well-stuck ivory sit too long, where the resulting
dry and higher heat embrittles keytops for good). I keeps 'um sorted
C/F, B/E, A, G, D, head and tail pairs intact and all as sets if there's
like more than 30.

Regards,


Clark