Good question. Wouldn't hurt. But rust that has already gotten in areas where it is impossible to clean is going to continue to do damage. As far as a process, I would simply do a light wipe down of the strings with the "oil" cloth , trying not to touch the wound strings. I will say that in additional to this method, I am a strong advocate of the string cover felt concept. The good quality string cover felt will add needed protection and ( at least) slow the progression of rust. Tom Servinsky ----- Original Message ----- From: "Geoff Sykes" <thetuner at ivories52.com> To: "'Pianotech List'" <pianotech at ptg.org> Sent: Sunday, March 26, 2006 5:35 PM Subject: RE: Protecting plain wire from rust > Tom -- > > I have a customer with a 1919 Hazelton Bros. piano that I service > regularly > that has rusty strings. The piano has had a DC in it for years. I recently > replaced it as the tank for the old one literally fell out of the piano. > Nevertheless, and in spite of the fact that the DC is functionally > correctly > and is properly maintained, the strings continue to show increasing signs > of > rust. Do you think that employing your Vaseline treatment to these strings > at this late stage might be beneficial? If yes, how would you go about > applying this treatment to strings already in the piano? > > -- Geoff Sykes > -- Assoc. Los Angeles > > > -----Original Message----- > From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On > Behalf > Of Tom Servinsky > Sent: Sunday, March 26, 2006 1:54 PM > To: schecter at pacbell.net; Pianotech List > Subject: Re: Protecting plain wire from rust > > > Mark, > I think that I made myself very clear. Use a very min. amt of Vaseline and > work it into a cotton cloth. Simply wipe the string enough to coat the > strings. That's it. > I also made it very clear there is absolutely no goo or gummy appearance > to > the string. In fact there is no sign at all that the string is coated. I > can > > say that after 25 yrs of doing this on piano in the tropics, the strings > stay looking pristine. > Keep in mind that we also use humidity control within the piano as well. > As > far as the Protek is concerned, this could be a very good R & D project > for someone, maybe like yourself, to begin a study and report back to us > your findings after 1, 5, 10, 20 yrs. Then we can figure if Protek could > be > a good additive. > My studies for my method, as of now, are complete and valid over a 25 yr. > period with absolute success. Not that there are not other ways to skin > the > cat, but this particular method does work with great success. To date, I > have never had to go back and re-coat. Tom Servinsky > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Mark Schecter" <schecter at pacbell.net> > To: "Pianotech" <pianotech at ptg.org> > Sent: Sunday, March 26, 2006 2:43 PM > Subject: Re: Protecting plain wire from rust > > >> Hi, Tom. >> >> Thanks for writing. The vaseline idea is interesting. I have two >> concerns about it. The more minor one is, are the strings at all >> gummy, and do they attract or collect dust? Not that it would be very >> much, but let's say, ten years down the line, are they still shiny? Do >> you ever renew the coating, and if so, what do you do about the area >> around/between the tuning pins? >> >> The other concern is, since vaseline is a petroleum product that we >> know melts with even very slight heat, could there ever be >> contamination of the pin block? I suppose you're using so little, you >> wouldn't expect it, but it seems worth asking anyway. >> >> Also, I wonder whether any manufacturers do anything to treat plain >> wire, especially when the piano is destined for a humid environment? >> With so many pianos being made in Asia, I would think that rust would >> be a concern right from the beginning. What about the wire and pins >> they store for manufacturing? >> >> As far as using Protek being more expensive, I wonder just how much it >> would really cost per piano? When I have used it prior to tuning, I've >> been using the liquid on a piece of felt as a spreader. But I guess >> you could just as easily make your oil cloth with (what is it?) MPL. >> >> That brings to mind the question of active ingredients. With vaseline, >> it's the grease that's doing the protecting. With Protek liquid, it's >> Teflon (presumably). With Protek MPL, I suppose it would be both. What >> I like about the Protek liquid is, there is no grease involved, even >> if it's more expensive. >> >> So anyway, thanks for your thoughts! >> >> -Mark >> >> Tom Servinsky wrote: >>> Mark, >>> Make yourself a small oil cloth by working a small amt. of Vaseline >>> in a >>> small piece of fabric ( T-shirt material). Simply wipe the string with >>> the oil cloth just prior to installation and the string will remain >>> looking new even through bad tropical conditions. >>> We live in the tropics where hurricanes have wrecked havoc in our area >>> over the past 2 years. Where most pianos strings rusted out due to the >>> excessive salt exposure, the pianos we have rebuilt using this methods >>> came out squeaky clean. >>> There doesn't seem to be an adverse affect on tonal and string behavior >>> using this method. >>> I idea of using Protek has crossed my mind however the cost vs the >>> Vaseline doesn't make good economic sense. >>> Tom Servinsky >>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Mark Schecter" >>> <schecter at pacbell.net> >>> To: "Pianotech" <pianotech at ptg.org> >>> Sent: Saturday, March 25, 2006 12:15 AM >>> Subject: Protecting plain wire from rust >>> >>> >>>> Hi, all. Here's something I've been wondering about. >>>> >>>> In pianos with rusty strings, I use Protek on the strings where they >>>> pass under the capo, and where they pass through the agraffes, as well >>>> as on the counterbearing felt, to help ease rendering. It works, and >>>> seems to keep on working for at least a few months, maybe longer. I >>>> have > >>>> often wondered if there is any substance (such as, oh, maybe, Protek?) >>>> that people use on clean, shiny strings to prevent rust or tarnish ever >>>> developing? I could imagine taking whole rolls of wire and dipping it >>>> in > >>>> a bath of XYZ-stuff before stringing, or sponging it on in the piano. >>>> >>>> We are instructed to coat practically every other metal surface in >>>> every >>>> device in our lives (think car) with something or other, so why not >>>> piano strings? I guess we could expand the question to include >>>> copper-wound bass strings, too, if anyone has any thoughts about those. >>>> I'm interested to hear people's ideas. >>>> >>>> -Mark Schecter >>>> >>> >>> >>> >> >> > > >
This PTG archive page provided courtesy of Moy Piano Service, LLC