re-bushing keys

[looking]

Do all uprights have bushings in their keys?? What is boxcloth??

[PianoGuy]

Do all uprights have bushings in their keys??

No.

What is boxcloth??

It's a kind of heavy tightly-woven brushed woollen cloth with a felt like appearance.

[looking]

I have an 1865 upright birdcage piano, made in Manchester,England.Do I need felt in side of the key chases or middle of the key lever? Would this piano have had front bushings inside of the key fronts? Is boxcloth still available and by what name? Is it all felt now?

[Gill the Piano]

You can tell if a piano has had bushings in the keys; even if the moths have been having a good time, there will be vestiges of (normally red) felt and glue in the chases. It is quite possible that it never had any, as cheaper pianos were cheap because corners were cut wherever possible to keep costs down. Most of them would have had bushings inside the keys at the front though.
Boxcloth is easily obtainable from good piano supplies houses such as Fletcher and Newman, and Heckschers.

[PianoGuy]

You'll need the right thickness of key bushing cloth to do the job.... Not exactly boxcloth in the piano sense of the term, although it's of similar woven composition. Usually a sandwich construction, red 'bread' with a white filling layer in the middle!

A piano as early as 1865 may have had keys bushed with leather.

[looking]

Thank you very much.