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I am new to this board and would appreciate any help regarding this job that I doing.

I am removing the ivory keytops off a piano. I have done a few practice samples before and was given a lesson in a shop (using an iron and moist cloth) but this is my first real job to complete.

Out of my first ten keys only about half have come off clean without taking any wood with them. I am now finding out that I have better results without using any moisture, by applying an iron directly to the keytops for a short spell. Even with the clean ones I still have a fair amount of glue and mesh type paper that is not easy to remove.

I would appreciate any suggestions/ tips regarding this procedure.

Also - I want to number the corresponding keytops to their respective keys and be able to remove it later - Would a pencil be the best marker for this?

Regards,

TPN

Here is how I store the ivories in my shop. Cut one side off a pizza box, or some other box of same size. When you remove the ivories, lay the head and tail together, like it was in the piano C D E F G until you have a whole line of ivory on the flat surface. With a pencil, write the corresponding key under each head on the cardboard surface. Then, right over top of where the join is between head and tail, take three inch clear vinyl tape, and tape right over the join on all. So when you are finished, it looks like a keyboard without the blacks taped to the cardboard. Did I lose you? Hope not.
Not a good idea to use the iron straight on the ivory. This can burn and discolour them badly. Dish cloth wrung out and damp, if you are having trouble getting the glue to release, leave the iron for a twenty second count…. One thousand, two thousand, like that. Not too much dampness ok? This can warp the ivory. If you do bend one up, while it is still hot, put it between two heavy books, or bricks, and as it cools it will straighten out. Might not be ivory too, some used walrus tusk……. Try not to damage the wood. This will result in “peaks and valleys” in the surface that you will have to repair or the ivory will be “shady” or blotchy when you reinstall
The ones that have a mesh type paper… sounds like they may have been repaired before with the repair wafers you can get from Schaff, but I can’t see your product there.

TPN
Interestingly enough I have found that a little more water and another rag will help remove the remaining glue on both surfaces. Have a lamp with a hundred watt bulb nearby to dry the surface of the wooden key lever so it does not bend. On the back side of the ivory you will have to rub hard.... watch the water there!!

I neglected to welcome you to the forum, my fault, glad you have joined us all....

hi tpn ...l use only an up turned iron secured in a vice.l never use a damp cloth on keys.put the key on the iron for a few seconds and when you hear a "sizzle"take the key off the heat and place a flat bladed knife under the ivory and run it to the end of the key top ,slightly raiseing and lowering the blade as you go along.the hardest part of doing this is getting the temparature of the iron right,too hot and the ivory will scorch and become brittle,too low and you will lift off wood....always put a couple of plasters on your thumb!

Eddie good idea on the iron in the vise I am going to try this one myself...

Thanks gentleman for your advice. I am coming to terms with all the variables concerned here - type of glue, condition of the wood, how much heat, moisture etc. I would like to have a clean separation each time but I think the odds are against me. I will just have to deal with the bad ones when/ if I install new plastic keytops.

Forget the rags, drink the water and throw the iron away. This takes a little time but you dont have water loged keys AND you wind up with perfect heads and tails. Use a heat gun on the ivory. The kind that Home Depot sells and not the industrial models. I go 1 key at a time. I hold the key in one hand and apply heat with the other. With a little practice you learn just how far to hold the heat gun from the key. The heat softens the glue and the ivory comes off easily

It great to hear all this experience. It seems to relate to the original glues. But, at least some of TPN's keys were re-glued with wafers. Does anyone have experience removing ivories that have been applied with wafers? Maybe cold works better. I don't know. I don't have any experience with wafers.

heat is the only way to deal with glue.some of the impact adhesives are a real pain to remove.one word of warning about key fronts made from celluloid.use a knife rather than heat or they will catch fire and the smoke is noxious!.as with all things in this trade as your experience grows you will get a "feel"about what you are doing.the more you do the better you will get

I too use the heat gun, but often it is the wood, not the glue that "sizzles" and begins to turn black. I think I will try the iron in the vice trick.

I am not concerned much with the glue right under the keytops since I trim the wood with my chop-saw and jig before applying the new, thicker plastic tops anyway, and the glue is no longer there.

How do you guys apply your new plastic keytops? That might be the subject of a new thread. Pictures of jigs for such would be wonderful too!

Thanks again everyone for all suggestions. I am going to try out the heat gun idea but I have a feeling that I will be back to the iron - dry has worked best so far. These keytops were all reglued using wafers - seems to be part of the problem as the wafers have grafted to parts of the wood.

I have posted pictures of my resurfacing methods here.

My experience with the wafers is if you want to remove them it is best done in the first 24hrs. after they have been installed. Doesn't sound like TPN has this option though. After that, the glue seems to "cure out" and usually you have to use so much heat and water you end up destroying either the wood surface or the ivory itself. if you can get an edge up on the wafer usually you can peel it off like an orange. Difficult.... can't see the product he is working with there....

I ended up buying a heat gun and got the job done. I had to bake them pretty hot but i am more concerned with the condition of the key over the keytop. It appears that the final determining factor was the temperature - too low and take wood.

Thanks again for all imput - much appreciated.

TPN: Thanks for the update. This makes you the "expert" for removing wafer attatched ivories!