Patrick, Thanks for the tip. I've already finished the job, but will keep this idea handy. What I discovered was that steam worked best. I used a 50/50 alcohol/water solution to wet the bushings, then inserted a custom brass tip that attached to a 25W soldering iron (no steam generator yet). After doing a few, I was able to notice exactly when the glue bond was loosening, so it was pretty easy after that. Some other things.... Alcohol worked best to clean the accumulated sticky glue from my fingers. Tried acetone, alc/H2O solution, etc., but pure alcohol worked best to dissolve the glue stuff. The balance rail bushings were not glued with the same thing. Not sure what glue was used, but it was not hide glue. Maybe PVC-E. I used PVC-E for the front rail bushings, which worked well, and hide glue for the bal rail. I like hide glue the best, but the process using PVC-E is very quick because you can apply glue for half the keyboard without worrying about it drying prematurely. (I use the Bushmaster and Spurlock cauls, although I am thinking about getting the brass cauls from Pianotek. They look as if they would work better. Any negative opinion out there?) Thanks all for your help. John Formsma Blue Mountain, MS mailto:jformsma@dixie-net.com -----Original Message----- From: owner-pianotech@ptg.org [mailto:owner-pianotech@ptg.org]On Behalf Of Patrick C. Poulson Sent: Tuesday, March 13, 2001 2:24 PM To: pianotech@ptg.org Subject: Re: Baldwin key bushing removal Hi All! I have had occasion to do this kind of bushing removal before. I got a tip from Yvonne Ashmore to use a mix of ammonia and water to presoak the bushings, the theory being that the ammonia loosens up the white glue. The steam then can do the rest of the job. I haven't done too many like this, but I remember this working pretty well. Patrick Poulson
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