Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Tuner-Technicians Forum A good lubricant??

Can someone recommend a good lubricant for use on piano actions?

I particularly need to lubricate the bushings where the keys pivot, as I have found some of them don't return quickly when the action is out of the piano (though most do). I'm sure this is affecting repetition rate on certain notes.

Also, where could I buy the stuff in the UK?

Prolube

http://www.uk-piano.org/piano_parts.html#SupplyHouses

Jim,

Prolube is great stuff. I often use it on new pianos. There are a couple of things that you could do to get your keyboard functioning more smoothly and consistently.

The first thing I would suggest is checking the condition of the keypins. Is the texture rough because of corrosion, or other factors? Polishing the keypins with a good metal polish like Flitz (found in hardware stores in the US) helps smooth out rough edges.

Check for key tightness in both the front rail and balance rail key bushings. From the front, lift the key just to the top of the balance rail pin. It should slide down slowly of it's own accord.

I check the front rail bushings by pushing the key all the way down, then, holding the action up and off the back of the key, I push down on the back of the key. There should be no friction. All you should feel is the weight of the key. Another way is to move the key side to side. There should be a very small amount of side to side movement.

Check in your Reblitz book for information on easing keys. However, NEVER ease a balance rail hole from the bottom, as the hole will become mis-shapen and start to chuck(move back and forth), causing binding, clacking, or both. The picture in the book shows the tool going into the bottom...wrong!

I'd take all the keys out, check condition of pins, lube keypins with spry lubricant like McLube 444(be judicious with this stuff, it's gnarly smelling and undoubtedly hazardous)or Prolube, ease as necessary. That should take care of binding and/or squeaking keys.

Thanks, guys.

Dave, the pins look pretty rust free and shiny, but I think some of the felts around the holes are a bit tight.

Most keys when pressed while holding up the action clunk back into place quite smartly, but the offending ones either stay down or come back very slowly.

I tried easing the holes a little bit (I did it from the right end, luckily!) and that helped, but they still aren't as free as the 'good' ones.

I'll get a bottle (can?) of prolube and give that a go.

if key pins are highly polished there is no need for lubricants. just ease keys at balance rail hole, balance rail bushing and front rail bushing correctly.

There are too many things that can go wrong here.

Is this a current condition or long standing? What's provoked you to remove the stack? Were the keys sticking before you removed the stack? Are simply trying to remove all friction to increase speed? What kind of piano?

When easing keys be gentle. You've played pianos with keys loose and rattling. It is a natural result of moving the keys up and down on those pins over time. If you have tight keys it could be from warpage do to wintertime dryness. When the keys straighten they might be too loose after easing.

If the keys are leaded they may be free but not fall like the others because of the balance of the leads which is OK.

Sam,

This was prompted by me regulating the piano, and tightening up the screws in the action as I had a few rattles.

It's all fine now, but while I had the action out I noticed this business with some keys returning differently to others.

The keys have lead weights in the back end, and as I said, most of them snap back into position smartly even without the help of the weight of the action. There's definitely an issue with repetition rate on the keys affected.

Scutch,
I've had a go at easing the felts, but some of them are in poor condition (notably the bad ones) and I can't get a satisfactory result (I don't want to overdo it, either). Is there a problem with using lubricant in these circumstances?

usually the felts that are in poor condition (the bad ones) are loose on the pins?? in any case if the key bushing felts are bad it is easy to replace them and then do the easing. there is no law against using a lube - it is just not a permanent fix for the problem and you will not learn how a properly eased key feels or how to make it happen. there are really no short cuts to this work.

Jim,

Can you feel the friction in the keys when you rock them back and forth? At what point in its travel does the key bind? Are all the afflicted keys in a particular section? As Scutch suggests, lubricants may help temporarily, but diagnosing the problem will help you find a more permanent solution.