Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Tuner-Technicians Forum Regluing keytops

I looked at a Knabe Grand today where 14 white keytops have come off totally and many others are loose. The piano had been moved then stored for a number of months. When delivered most of the 14 had fallen off their keysticks. I have done keytops here and there but it would appear that all of the white keytops (52 in all) should be removed, scraped of glue and reglued. I am looking for tips to make the job go smoothly . Does anyone have a good system to glue, align and clamp all of the white keytops at once or is it better to do them in batches ? The keytops are all one piece plastic which are a little yellowed on the heads.
Also- what is the best type of glue to use- PVCE ? Contact cement ?

Jimbob, I'd take them off, and do them one at a time. Don't scrape too much, in fact you can clean them up pretty well wiping with lacquer thinner. Glue of choice pvce(slow), contact cement(fast).

I would not use lacquer thinner to clean plastic keytops. It will etch the plastic.

It's always tough to redo a job someone has botched. It's much easier to do it right in the first place.

Thanks Curry. I looked up some past posts about this and say one by Larry Buck about using pvce. I like using that stuff and it doesn't kill you with the fumes. What do you suggest I clean the wooden keystick with ? Shouldn't the glue be scraped off ? This Knabe was pretty neat- it had an Ampico player unit where the controls slid up into your lap. The action needs a few hours of regulation- hammer swing tests on 3 hammers only showed 1/2 to 1 1/2 swings . Lots of other reg issues such as hammers all on the rail, weak rep springs, tarnished keypins etc. The humidity here has been pretty bad all summer. I'm sure glad I have central AC.

Ops! I meant wiping with denatured alcohol, not lacquer thinner.

Yeah- I was wondering about that.You have to watch that stuff too because it is highly flammable.

J, the surfaces of the keysticks can be lightly sanded with fine paper wrapped on a square cork block. You only want the surface clean. If you take too much off you're going to be doing a lot of key leveling. Well, you're going to be doing that anyway.

Not as flammable as the moonshine the custodian got us in college.

I have to get to bed since I have a grand to work on in a few hours. One last question- whats the best way to get the partially loose keys off without breaking them ? A heat gun using a felt knife like I use on keybuttons ?