Fantastik for verdigris

[Bruce Dornfeld, RPT]

The August Journal has an article about different liquid treatments for verdigris.  The conclusion is that Fantastik household cleaner works for freeing action centers better than Protek CLP and other well known treatments.  Last week I tried it for the first time.  The most common way I have treated verdigris in recent years is just before tuning.  Many pianos get it twice a year to keep them functioning.  

So this first S&S grand to get the treatment, all of the hammer flanges and wippen flanges got  generous amounts of Fantastik from a applicator bottle with a long tube.  Surprise number one: the four replaced shanks and flanges seized up.  Those flanges were varied, one Teflon, one Teflon impregnated felt center, and the others more traditional looking.  All of them, even after working them, got too tight to tune normally.  The original flanges were also tighter than before I started.  I told my client to let me know if the friction got too much.  I haven't gotten a call back, but I don't know ow much she plays.

This morning, I tuned another S&S that I see regularly every six months.  I used Protek CLP for all jacks, and lower hammer and wippen flanges.  I used Fantastik for hammers and wippens for the top treble section only.  When I tuned after that treatment, all of the lower keys worked well.  In the top section, I had to modify my technique for striking the keys.  I used a staccato blow so the hammer would come down better.  This only worked there because there are no dampers up there.

I assume there are a lot of technicians out there who try what they read in the Journal, or have know about this method before.  What is your experience?  Should we tune first, apply Fantastik and tell them the piano will be playable the next day?      

[Randy Mangus]

I have been using Fomblin from Supply 88 for the past couple months and so far it seems to work great for verdigris. Time will tell if it is a long-term solution. It ain’t cheap, $10 an ounce  but if it works it’s worth it. 

Randy Mangus,RPT

Sent from my iPhone

On Apr 26, 2022, at 5:44 PM, Bruce Dornfeld, RPT <bdor...@earthlink.net> wrote:

The August Journal has an article about different liquid treatments for verdigris.  The conclusion is that Fantastik household cleaner works for freeing action centers better than Protek CLP and other well known treatments.  Last week I tried it for the first time.  The most common way I have treated verdigris in recent years is just before tuning.  Many pianos get it twice a year to keep them functioning.  

So this first S&S grand to get the treatment, all of the hammer flanges and wippen flanges got  generous amounts of Fantastik from a applicator bottle with a long tube.  Surprise number one: the four replaced shanks and flanges seized up.  Those flanges were varied, one Teflon, one Teflon impregnated felt center, and the others more traditional looking.  All of them, even after working them, got too tight to tune normally.  The original flanges were also tighter than before I started.  I told my client to let me know if the friction got too much.  I haven't gotten a call back, but I don't know ow much she plays.

This morning, I tuned another S&S that I see regularly every six months.  I used Protek CLP for all jacks, and lower hammer and wippen flanges.  I used Fantastik for hammers and wippens for the top treble section only.  When I tuned after that treatment, all of the lower keys worked well.  In the top section, I had to modify my technique for striking the keys.  I used a staccato blow so the hammer would come down better.  This only worked there because there are no dampers up there.

I assume there are a lot of technicians out there who try what they read in the Journal, or have know about this method before.  What is your experience?  Should we tune first, apply Fantastik and tell them the piano will be playable the next day?      

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "pianotech" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to pianotech+...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pianotech/85b89071-ff15-491e-9ca7-f1812a97d706n%40googlegroups.com.