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Carey will let you know!
I will try one out - I go this week.

brdwyguy

Brdwyguy- I replied to your post, but in your New Updated List of Grands thread (this thread extends over many years, but I don’t want to derail it too much)

Progress is happening! If you recall, the previous owner's tech (the only person the owner had trusted to touch the piano and who was dubbed "Bo's Uncle") had smeared Protek grease everywhere, because a Bösendorfer-trained tech had told him they use Protek to lubricate. He'd meant the powder kind. The grease is meant for pedals.

The first thing my tech had wanted to do five years back was to tighten up the balance rail holes on the keys with hyde glue, because I'd told him I wanted a "buttery touch". And then we discovered the grease. It was on the felts in the action as well. We cleaned it as well as we could at the time with paper towels and q-tips but decided to wait until replacing parts to use solvent so that he could work on it in his shop. Thankfully it seems to have come out cleanly! He had been worried that solvents would cause it to penetrate into the wood with unknown results.

"I’m working away on the action. I definitely removed significant amount of gunk on the bottom of the keys and on the key pins. It acted like hardened salve of some sort. Methanol seems to have cleaned it off the surface of the wood. So that is good.
...
Gunk was on bottom of key, in balance rail hole and on balance rail pin. Hyde glue is sticking fine."

He'll bring back the action on Monday or Tuesday but the piano won't be ready to play for another week!

Thanks. Look forward to hearing your thoughts.

This is SO EXCITING!!!!! I can't wait till it's all done, fingers and toes are all crossed for you and Bo!!! ❤️❤️❤️

Thank you, Lisa!!!

Well, congratulation, twocats, you are almost there in getting your Bosie ("Bo") back!

Re: Piano action lubricants. I use three kinds of specific lubricants on my piano actions. First of all there is already some graphite (greyish looking material) burnished into the bridge tops, so the strings can slide easier across the top of the bridge when tuning; and the graphite is also on the whippin where the jack and repetition lever engages the hammer shank knuckle (and other places as well). That lube material is there from the factory.

I never use any graphite or even replace what is already there, but I use three different products, one is called ProTek CLP (cleaner, lubricant and protectant), McLube aerosol spray (for hard to get to places) and Teflon powder. These products, used sparingly, and in the right areas, can make a big difference it the smoothness and speed of the action, by eliminating excess friction in certain areas.

To apply the powdered Teflon, I use a new felt hammer to dip the tip into the bottle of powdered Teflon, and then burnish the Teflon into the hammer shank knuckles. With the ProTek CLP, I use a hypodermic syringe, with the sharp needle point blunted, or one of the syringes with curved tip (no needle), to strategically apply the liquid ProTek solution to all the flange joints I can get to. The Protek has the powdered Teflon in it, and the liquid is there to help deliver the Teflon deep inside the flange bushings, or wherever it is needed. I use the McLube spray for hard to get to areas, and it always helps.

Next, I polish the key pins, both front and center, as well as the tops of the brass cap-stands, and use either the powdered Teflon or the Protek on the key bushings and the felt on the bottom of the keys, where it meets the cap-stands.

The thing about these lubricants is that they are specifically designed for piano actions, and will not hurt or ruin anything. I can't imagine someone gobbing some type of grease, graphite or otherwise, and particularly not the proper product, all over the action of a Bosendorfer grand. But is sounds like you are well on your way to having a really good action on fine piano!

Maybe your temporary digital piano can get you by till "Bo" is ready!

All the best!

Rick

Hi Rick, you certainly do a lot of maintenance on your pianos! Just so glad that my tech was able to undo the damage, and the new action should last me for the foreseeable future so I won't have to worry about that! Even by the time I need new hammers, who knows if my tech will be retired by then

twocats

hope you will send pics when it is finished?

also, TY for all the best wishes on my new BFF Steinway (delivery is June)

best
brdwyguy

There are pics of my piano linked in my signature, but unfortunately it isn't visible on mobile. Here's the link. I won't post any photos after the work is done since it's all on the inside of the piano (well, maybe I'll take a pic of the action before my tech puts it back) but I'm hoping to make a video for the new sound. I find recording to be completely exhausting and it usually takes up most of my day, but I'll do it eventually

June! That's a long time to have to wait for your Steinway to be delivered!

This is so exciting! I feel like we're all invested in how this comes out, haha. That must have been a huge relief that the methanol was able to remove the gunk without damaging anything.

Thanks, aidans! I've been super busy with life craziness (my friend joked that I must have angered a deity; among other stressors that were not Acts of God, I got two flat tires in one day and last night my shower door spontaneously exploded) so I haven't really thought about my piano at all. Hopefully life will be back to normal by the time my tech is done and then I can get back to practicing!

My tech brought back the action this morning and took over my living room:



He gets very single-minded and obsessive, and said he might work through the weekend and finish on Sunday. He said that at Bösendorfer, after the initial voicing they have a pounding machine and then finish the voicing after that, but of course we won't have that. He hasn't decided yet whether to have me play after the first voicing and then come back and do more voicing. He said that the hammers won't sound great at that point but the voicing won't be done. But he said that at that point the hammers are very sensitive and he doesn't want me to make them too uneven, either.

We also talked about the prep-- he said to achieve a concert prep, you set the let-off very close but it isn't a lasting state because humidity changes etc will interfere (so I guess it's literally done before each concert!). We agreed that he would do what he'd normally do after installing an action but we'd save his hours to come back and do more regulation after some time.

He's also going to set the key dip a bit deeper. He said that the touch might feel a bit heavier but he's sure I won't have any issues adjusting. The paper washers didn't make sense to me before because he says he adds washers to increase key dip, and I'd assumed that they were at the front of the key and it would have the opposite effect. He says they actually go farther back under the key, so that finally makes sense to me!

OMG, it looks like he moved in!!! Tell him to fix the shower door next! 😂😂😂

Your reporting is very fascinating, thanks for the updates! ❤️😊

I LOVE the Bosendorfer fall board in the dining room! I think you should have a second one made and keep in that very spot!

He certainly did! I had to check everything before he left and make sure it was left in a cat-safe state. I had locked up the cats in the bedroom all day and the older kitten was really mad! When she gets cooped up she goes around knocking everything down to the ground 😹


You mean my custom Bösendorfer cheese board? 😂😂😂

Glad you're finally seeing some action going on with your piano action, twocats!

Great pic! You have a lovely home, and a lovely piano, with a new action!

All the best!

Rick

Your kitty would just LOVE to launch things off the Bösendorfer cheese board, I’m sure! Lock up the knives!! 😱😱😱

Thanks, Rick!

My tech says that I can probably start playing the piano again on Sunday! The voicing won't be done but he'll come back in a few weeks and spend a few more days on my piano then. Maybe he also wants to let things settle in and see if any issues pop up.

My cats are going to miss all the fun in the living room!

Even if it's not done, the major work like mating the hammers to the strings, etc should be done, and the hammers should be new, so you should be able to get a feel for the potential of it right? Ah, that good old feeling of anticipation

I’m excited to see how this turns out. I’m so happy you have a qualified tech who is making progress.