Newbie; Cleaning actions

[John Delacour]

At 10:22 am -0700 5/5/02, Claudia Cimenti wrote:

| 2. A quick question on cleaning actions: The old upright I am restoring has
| an extremely dirty action. It is very very dusty. How would you go about
| cleaning this? I would be interested in hearining how you would go about
| doing this with a minimum set of tools ("the hard way"), or in an
| established shop.

After blowing out or brushing off the dust, we always carefully clean all
parts with white cotton sheeting.  If the wood is not too dirty, it is
enough to use plain water with a drop of detergent to wet the rag.  For
cleaning the fiddly bits under jack springs, round wires etc.  you can use
a long thin length of rag secured at one end to the bench (or just between
your knees!).

When I began action work years ago, I was taught to use oxalic acid ("salts
of lemon") and this I did religiously for a long time and still do
occasionally.  Oxalic acid bleaches the wood but, unlike hydrogen peroxide
+ ammonia, preserves the natural colour of the wood.  Used in combination
with sunlight, the effect is miraculous and very fast.  I spilled some last
year on an old Erard key bottom I use for an outside bench.  Within half a
minute the pine was glistening gold like new.  Oxalic acid is a deadly
poison but it never killed me because I never drank it.  It will nibble at
delicate hands, so it's best to protect the hands with a silicone cream or
surgical gloves.  It doesn't actually burn or mark, but it causes a slight
tickling sensation.  If you lick it off, it probably won't kill you either,
but I didn't try that either!

In the very worst cases, where the wood is stained and will not come clean
(eg. mouse damage), you can make a mixture of titanium white, yellow ochre,
burnt umber etc. in shellac finishing spirit -- or in alcohol with just a
dash of French polish as a binder -- and paint it on with a small camel
hair mop.  It is possible to get the colour and texture almost
indistinguishable from the original wood and the mixture is very easy to
apply because it has practically no body.

Certain parts, such as grand shanks and repetition levers, can be scraped
with a No.25 scalpel blade with or without the handle.  Get some of these
amyway, since they are useful for a hundred tasks.

JD