bushing felt needs re-doing

[stopher]

I need the bushing felts on the keys redoing on my Chappell Upright - looks as if the moths have had a great time in there!

Is there someone I can send these to to get done and how much would it cost roughly

Many thanks

Chris

[jackg]

The front pins are flatted on two sides which means you can turn them to take up slack. But use a device that does not mark them, eg well fitting spanner, but not a pair of pliers, the marks will remove more bushing cloth.

[Barrie Heaton]

I need the bushing felts on the keys redoing on my Chappell Upright - looks as if the moths have had a great time in there!

Is there someone I can send these to to get done and how much would it cost roughly

Many thanks

Chris

Your local piano tuner will be able to do them if there is no local tuner. Both Fletcher & Newman or Heckscher can do them for you but they normally only do them for the trade. But then you will have to ease them, see piano parts on the left Quick Links menu for their details

if the moths have eaten a lot then turning the Bat pins will not help much

Barrie,

[sussexpianos]

Turning the batt pins also increases wear in the bushings as less pin is in contact with the felt and you get grooves. The only answer is to replace the bushes. Its best to get these done by a local technician as they might need slight easing. Save some money and when the keys are away, polish the pins up, this helps reduce friction and wear which increases the weight needed to press the key down.

[Brumtuner]

"Is there someone I can send these to to get done and how much would it cost roughly "

I'll do both rows for ₤240 as long as you cover the postage to/from B'ham.

[vernon]

If the moths have eaten your bushings, you can bet they have had a meal on the key baizes , centres and backtouch.
Definitely the cushions..
Incidentally, does anyone else notice that moth damage has virtually disappeared nowadays?
Every jo we used to take automatically had to have all the above replaced. Nowadays it's very rare.
I've a cupboard full of centres ,baizes and assorted felt which have been untouched for ages.
Has anybody seen motheaten hammers in the last few cyears/

[mdw]

Has anybody seen motheaten hammers in the last few cyears/

Not really, in fact it tends to be just cushion felt for moths and the odd mouse thats eaten hammer felt etc. I had one job where the mouse had gone along and very neatly chopped off every tape and made a nest. Leaving all the leather ends in place and untouched.

[vernon]

me too.
I sold a piano (20 years ago) and after a week the customer complained about bad repetition, and , indeed, the little rascals had removed all the tapes for their nest as did your mices.
She was very indignant at my suggestion that she was vermin infested and was emphatic that they must have been my mice!
Similarly, at about the same time there was a school with a new Fazer in which the keys all seized up after a week. Our friends had run along the keys and peed along the bushings with the aforementioned effect.
Any suggestion that it was mice was indignantly refuted despite the added evidence of a profuse scattering of Richard The Thirds decorating the keys as well.

[sussexpianos]

For me, Moth damage has increased a lot. Well in the south anyway. I have had to replace 5 sets of key felts (front,balance&back) in the last 4 months.
Vernon is right, if the balance felts have been eaten, then there is a high chance that they've eaten all the rest of the felts.
Get a technician in.