Getting the action parts

[Farrell]

Yes, wet on action can be dangerous! Once upon a time, mmmmmaybe 20 years ago, I heard of a piano tech. that had an upright action that had really slow action centers. He thought he would give them the alcohol/water treatment to shrink the bushing felt. This is a method that often works well for me. Well, this one was REALLY slow, so he figured that the slower it was, the more liquid would be required. So he really soaked the thing. The next day most of the hammer butt leathers had shrunk to about 1/2 their original size and detached from the lower glue point, and acquired a very crunchy texture. Needless to say, this treatment did not provide any overall improvement in action performance. The owner did get a complementary set of new hammer butts though (that did help the piano's performance, but hurt the tech's bottom-line financial performance!).

Bottom line: Don't soak the action!

Terry Farrell
  
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Dave Nereson" <dnereson@dimensional.com>
To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: Tuesday, May 07, 2002 4:42 AM
Subject: Re: Getting the action parts 


> 
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Claudia Cimenti <claudia_cimenti@mail.com>
> To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
> Sent: Monday, May 06, 2002 1:56 PM
> Subject: Getting the action parts
> 
> 
> > Hi all,
> >
> > I am somewhat confused.  In one of the posts re: my request about how to
> > clean an action, somebody wrote:
> >
> > >Avoid using anything wet to clean the action.
> 
>     Yes, generally, you don't let the action get all wet; you don't spray it
> down with a hose or anything.  Felts will shrink or loosen, wooden parts
> will swell, then dry and shrink, possibly split, iron or steel parts
> (screws) will rust, bushings will loosen, etc.  So, no, keep it dry.  Piano
> actions, which are mostly wood, leather, and felt, are not designed to
> survive a soaking !!
> >
> > At the same time, other people recommend using certain liquid recipes to
> > get the action clean. Today I read about people taking damper assemblies
> > into the shower to get the damper felt off...
> 
>     I'd say "into the shower" is an exaggeration.  Maybe Wim takes showers
> with dampers, but most technicians don't.   If you're removing a whole set
> of damper felts to replace them, then yes, you might use a method that gets
> the whole damper head wet, but not the whole damper lever of an upright
> action !  To clean various other parts of the action, you might "wet" a rag
> with cleaning-type furniture polish or maybe Brasso, like on the hammer
> rail.  Or if the sticker rail has a quarter inch of dust on it, I suppose
> you could use a wet rag.  But it's not usually necessary.  If you have an
> air compressor, set the action outside the shop door and blow it out.  If
> you don't, use the vacuum cleaner and paint brush method.  If the hose of
> the vacuum cleaner will hook up to the exhaust, you can use that to blow
> with, also.  It's not as strong as an air compressor, but works.
>     The glass bead or walnut shell chip blasting is overkill, in my opinion.
> The action doesn't have to be pristine and sterile -- just decently clean so
> the parts function well and you don't turn your hands black when regulating
> it.
> >
> > So, is it ok for action parts to become wet?
> 
>     I say, NO!  (Unless you're soaking off felt)
> 
> >I guess there is a distinction  to be made between using a small amount of
> liquid on a rag to clean stuff,
> > and then drying it off vs. putting a whole assembly in liquid.
> 
>     Exactly.
> 
> >What are  possible ramifications of getting action parts wet? Next to felts
> coming
> > off, what about center pin bushings, etc?
> 
>     See above.  They can loosen, swell, fall off, shrink, etc.
> >
> > Thanks in advance for your clarifications.
> >
> > Regards,
> > /Claudia
> 
>                                 --David Nereson, RPT, Denver
> 
> >
>