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Where can I find purple hammer rail felt, and let off buttons?

Purple? No where. Hammer rail felt comes in green, white, or red. I've only ever seen green or white let off buttons.

Red dye and blue dye to make your own. I like seeing rebuild jobs where the craftsman took the time to create the likeness of the original product. As for let off buttons ,,, any catalog of piano parts suppliers.

Piano Forte Supply carries purple felt, but not the cloth you are looking for.
assorted colors of piano felt

Where can I get white then? I forgot about backcheck felt. Can I get that in white?
Or should I try dying a red cloth with blue dye?

For purple (or white)--It might take a little "fabrication" on your part, but try these guys:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/TheFeltPod...ga_search_type=all&ref=sr_gallery_17

I got some nice wine colored felt ribbon, which to some eyes, might be considered purple...

--Andy

Avoid "Craft" and "Decorator" felts in pianos if at all possible. They are often not homogenous, are sometimes made of blends of new and used wool or with inclusions of synthetics. As well, these felts sometimes can have chemical residues from processing (dyeing etc) which can cause strings and other metal parts to corrode (rust) where they come into contact.

Piano Forte Supply carries Crescendo felt which is white and can be dyed to suit specific color demands.

I guess one should be careful which dyes are used, too.

Jurgen
Would crescendo felts be suitable for Hammer rest rail felt (upright). I figure that is not too specific of an application. Anything that would cushion the rebound without packing down much over time.
But what about backchecks? That seems more specific. Are there crescendo felts that would match backcheck felts pretty closely?

Also, about dying. Could, the dye actually travel through the action parts and contact the strings? That seems quite unlikely to me. Perhaps slightly more likely would be airborne fumes, but I am dubious.

If I am going to dye it myself, what dyes should I avoid?

Anyone have any suggestions on punching out circles for regulating buttons?

Crescendo felts are pressed felt which is the traditional felt one thinks of. I believe this would cause too much bounce in the shank upon return. Hammer rail cloth is a thick woven cloth.

For punching out small round circles use a Centro punch set or a piece of small gauge pipe sharpened at one end.

Crescendo felt is not a pressed felt. It attains its density through a special fulling process, which is entirely unlike pressing and which imbues the felt with very different characteristics.

For hammer rails, you need to use hammer rest rail cloth (not felt).

I would not get too hung up on colors for action cloth and felt, especially in an upright. More important is to use good quality materials, and complete the job with excellent workmanship.

Plate and stringing felts, in a grand, that is something else. There, it is significant to use the same original colors of felt and cloth. More and more, this is becoming possible, with firm string bearing felts and cloth in scarlet, burgundy, blue and brown now available.

Thanks for the update on the process. Funny thing about that.

When I purchased a big bag of Crescendo felts from your business a couple of years back I called them pressed felt and I was not corrected then.

0{;-)o[

Although I can't say if purple felt is available today I can attest to the fact that it has existed. The colour is called Royal Purple. The hammer and spring rail felts from an old upright which I own, manufactured in 1889, are this colour. I would love to replace them with the same.

Hello and welcome to the forum. As I stated earlier in this thread, purple felt is available. Here's the link:
Piano felt: royal purple and other colors