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Hi all,

I've noticed a couple of days ago that there are quite a few keys on my piano that are showing tiny chips on the ivory around the area where the black keys are, is this something that just happen with regular use or is this an indication that something really bad is starting to happen to the ivories. I'm always extremely careful with the keys and try to keep them clean, these are full sheet ivories so I don't even know if they could ever be repaired for a reasonable price. As far as I know the black keys do not rub on the white keys, which could possibly cause some damage, has anyone seen or have any experience with this issue and is there anything I can do to prevent even more damage? Aside from never playing the piano..I took some pictures but I'm not sure how to add them to this post. Thank you.

You will find instructions for posting pictures here.

Usually ivory keytops are 2 pieces.

Are these real ivory or plastic?

The ivory keys will get thinner and thinner and usually chip at the overhang rather than at the notch where the sharps are placed.

Yes, but these are real ivories and they are full sheet, as opposed to the two pieces that show a seam, they're rare and expensive, hence my worry about damages to them, I'm aware that normally they chip on the overhang but that's not what's happening to these. I just can't understand what could be causing these tiny little chips on the inner side, close to the black keys. This is going to drive me crazy!

Thank you, please let me know if you guys can see, I have 4 full size pictures in there.

It almost looks like some sort of bug or insect or whatever could be attacking the ivories, if there's such a thing.

I would recommend having those chips just sanded out. They are very small and if they were smoothed and polished they would look fine.

Don't obsess about it. One of the great precepts of living is "don't sweat the small stuff". This is small stuff.

Word! That's exactly what I was trying to find out, they don't actually bother me
too much, except for the fact that I can't help but think that things may get worse
and worse and one day the ivories will just fall off right as I'm playing... OK, maybe
I'm being a little overdramatic but you get the point, I just want to make sure everything is going to be alright.

Do you have any reason to suppose that these glitches are getting worse? Perhaps they have always been like that?

This is a long shot, but is there any possibility that it could be being caused by your fingernails? Although I would guess you may have already thought that through.

Pwg

It's a puzzle as to whether the key coverings shown are actually ivory, or plastic. As mentioned earlier, it is very unusual indeed to have one-piece ivory key coverings - two-piece ("heads" and "tails") is the norm.

On the other hand, the bottom photo does seem to show some kind of gran in the surface of the "A" note. But maybe that is an artefact of the photo reproduction in some way. On balance I'd say they were plastic.

Will there be more tiny chips , will it get worse? Best to wait and see, I think.

There's no puzzle here, I know for a fact, with 100% certainty that the keys on my piano are real ivory, I think we're detracting from the real issue, but for completion's sake, I'm including FULL resolution pictures of the grain, must you see for yourself that I know what I'm talking about. I keep the keys in top, pristine condition (cleaning, buffing, etc.), so it's really really hard to actually photograph the grain well, with my phone anyway, but I believe this should settle it, there's no artifact, no Photoshop, the only thing I did was reduce the size so it would be under the 2.38mb required by the forum, otherwise these photos are untouched. I am well aware of the 2-piece Ivories that were used by some companies, in order to reduce cost, and the seam you can "almost" see, however, Bosendorfer did not adhere to that practice, as far as I know, at least not on their Concert Grand pianos, Model 290 Imperial. I also have seen a 225 from 1984 with the same exact type of keys.

Those are really lovely. I would suggest acrylikey to prevent further damage. But you need a tech that has experience with acrylic. You could also have a tech very slightly rounding these edges to also avoid further damage. But ONLY an experienced tech with Ivory. I have that experience but am in Canada. Good luck and all the best.

Ryan and Accordeur give good advice. You mentioned that you had them buffed at some time, couldn't that have caused thus roughing-of-the-notch edge I see?

Worth noting that there are several examples of plastic keys that carry the same grain appearance as your ivory. I would assume you have other evidence to conclude they are ivory rather than just the appearance of grain? I can see why people might think your keys are plastic just because of the one-piece thing and they look rather thick for ivory keytops. Not saying you are wrong, but you only cite their appearance as your reason. Of course, ivory sounds different when you tap it and has a different touch temperature, and I'm sure you know your piano better than we do.

It's a Bosendorfer and one piece Ivory was used. Other manufactures did also. I have worked with Ivory, and those are superb. Maintaining them and making sure they remain beautiful is a tribute to the elephants that died.

And those are (from the pictures) ones that I would love to see and touch myself.

All the best.

Just looked at the pictures again. Those are thick!!!

It's ivory. My 1986 made Bosendorfer 200 has the same one-piece ivory keys.

Jorge, thank you for the additional photos - the grain is clear to see. I am sorry that it seemed I was questioning your knowledge - I was not, offhand, aware of the state of your piano knowledge, nor that it was a Bosendorfer. People do get mixed-up about key coverings, and refer to various plastics as ivory, in my experience. But you are too informed for that, which I had not realised, and I am sorry for assuming otherwise.
On the matter of the likelihood of those small chips further developing, I am afraid I lack the expertise to make a prediction. I will leave that to the others here.

I'm no ivory expert. But, i did find some interesting conversation about preserving ivory on Bob Dunsire's' Bagpiping Forum.

They report success using almond oil to prevent further cracking of ivory pipes. However, there are participants that claim no type of preservative is necessary. I didn't bother reading all 5 pages of the thread. But, you might want to.
http://forums.bobdunsire.com/forums/showthread.php?t=146362