Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Tuner-Technicians Forum Rusty strings- a silly question?

Rust on strings is a big problem.

Has anybody ever tried stainless steel strings?

Yes.

A company by the name of Pure Sound makes stainless alloy piano wire. It is weaker than modern piano wire. I do use it in portions of the plain wire scale that are way too short to sound good with modern wire. Often just two to four notes strung with Pure Sound. They sound way better there. Warm, clear and not ugly when you play loud. It is part of what many of us are calling "Hybrid Wire Scales".

I don't think it is possible to make stainless wire as strong as high-carbon steel piano wire.

Juergen Goering sells it. He posts here under; Pianosupply.

There are big steel companies which make stainless steel wire mainly for springs, and if you Googele Nippon Seisen Co that is one. However, you'd undoubtedly find that their products are sold in bulk to smaller companies. I did find a complete PDF on their products and there was a ss wire which was suggested as as a piano wire.
I've bought from "Pearly Pianos" in Hungary - on ebay. Roslau (sp) wire: 0,8mm dia and it sure as " -- "! looks like stainless.
Seems to be holding up OK. The original wires on my forties upright are plainly not ss, but have no rust.
On my daughter's 1890 BROADWOOD top twenty notes have rust but still sound OK.

I put a light coating of Eezox on strings that are exposed to high humidity. Done quite a few over the years, especially at waterfront homes/cottages. It permanently prevents rusting, stays on as a thin dry lube and won't migrate. Eezox is unlike petroleum distillates since it has a higher density than water, moisture cant get through or under it. It works well as a CLP on metal but since it contains some Trichloroethylene (which is an awesome cleaner), I apply in well ventilated conditions.

Most wire makers propose(d) nickel plated versions their strings. Paulello does.
Older good quality pianos sometime have the wire protected by tin , or even silver. (seem efficient)

The wire making process used lead baths for long. I don't know if it is still the case, but the wire quality of the 70 where less prone to corrosion