What happens to flange bushings as they age - let's say for 125 years. I have not seen this subject addressed previously. Does the felt harden commonly? The reason I ask is that I have had poor results repinning some flanges from a couple 100-year old pianos I have been doing some action work on recently. It seems that with a newer flange I can ream it with the straight reamer, insert pin, and fairly easily get the desired fit - there is a bit of cushion/resilience in the bushing, and a small "window of good fit". With the old bushings/flanges it seems there is no forgiveness - ream it out - check fit - still too tight - ream the teeny tiniest little bit - check fit - too loose. The bushing material even feels different during reaming - more firm. Is this just my imagination, or does bushing felt get hard with age and make for less forgiving pin fitting? Can I assume this is a reason to re-bush (perhaps we should just re-flange and steer clear of politics!)? Terry Farrell
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