sustain pedal lubrication

As Pianoexpert suggests in a video, it is recommended to lubricate with a "dry" product such as Teflon, which can be purchased at a hardware store.

thank you very much. I had missed the video.

is it possible to lubricate the rollers and other friction parts with the same product?

The rollers are preferably lubricated with a bit of graphite (in powder) while the center pins are generally lubricated with Protek (I am against this).

Piano Tuner PISA

www.pianoaccordatore.it

I agree on everything. I suggest teflon powder, which is even better than graphite but not always easy to find. Anyway, as James rightly advises, graphite works perfectly fine. Just go to an art supply store, get some 6B (soft) graphite sticks, and rub them gently on the rollers after, possibly having brushed them gently with a small brass brush (.....so many complications!!!! ah, ah, ah)

I have always seen graphite being reapplied with sticks on the repetition lever and on the pusher, where the roller rests, and never directly on the roller itself which then receives it through contact.

Brushing the felt with a brass brush seems excessive to me, I would never do it on one of my own instruments. Not even on a friend's!

Out of curiosity, is there any reference in technical literature regarding these lubrication procedures and brushing skins with brass bristles?

I'm going to an art supply store... for now I have tried with a carpenter's pencil but it has been very frustrating as not much graphite remains. I saw online that they sell graphite powder. Could that work? I only found Teflon in spray form

Great! The teflon spray makes a mess of everything and gets everywhere. They sell graphite in thick sticks... With a carpenter's pencil, you'll never finish it.

Teflon spray does not stain; if anything, it is too mild and unsuitable for the rollers. Brushing serves exclusively to remove old graphite. When applying liquid graphite, it is applied to the upright and the repetition lever. However, when using soft graphite sticks, the same is applied lightly to the rollers. Sometimes, even if the levers are well-lubricated, a small noise and a slight resistance emerge between the rollers and the levers. Out of curiosity, is brushing the rollers a common practice, and if done gently, does it effectively remove old residues? The contradictions from Fra, who calls upon experiences by comparing them with evidence cited from 'technical literature', are fine, but instead, we would like to know from what technical experience and what qualifications his convictions—manifested in such a determined and definitive manner—originate!! Technical advice must be a point of reference for our members and therefore must come, if in the form of a suggestion rather than a simple opinion, from a qualified source. Thank you

It comes from the fact that I personally know and have seen several technicians working on pianos, and I have never seen anyone brush the hammers with a brass brush, so I was curious to know if there was any reference in the literature... That's all.

In fact, if you tell me which text says to brush the rollers with brass bristles, I'll read it myself; among those I have, it doesn't seem to be mentioned

And I add that I don't want to contradict anyone, there is always something to learn from everyone...

I will show the simple procedure in the next video tutorials. I would also like to clarify that we are not here to recount what is already written and which can, with all due respect, be more or less shared, but above all, what is written is not [the truth] and comes from research and experience gained. I always detail what I do and why I do it, and I sometimes feel like suggesting some tricks that can solve problems with simple interventions. Naturally, for more complex ones, I always recommend consulting a qualified technician. Now, insisting on documentary evidence regarding the use of a brass brush to clean the pin drums, I believe is outside the style we would want this Forum to have. On the other hand, I find it quite aggressive to insistently contradict a suggestion just because one has seen or heard something. Therefore, I interpret these insistent contradictory words as unfounded.

Ok fine, but if a user says things different from yours you shouldn't take it personally; to me, using a brass brush on snare drum heads even seems dangerous, so I was curious to know where this practice came from... Anyway, I don't think I am being aggressive, I am just expressing my opinions freely.

Here everyone can express their opinion. We opened this forum for this purpose. Here, nobody takes offense. But one must provide arguments, context, and eventually declare one's identity and training. Saying "dangerous" or... I wouldn't even use it on my best friend's piano... means: "something harmful is being suggested here". In that case, one must have the courage to argue WHY they hold a contrary opinion and why they judge the suggestion to be harmful. Otherwise, it remains a free game for those who simply enjoy contradicting others for no reason. And it causes disorientation for those reading. Therefore, arguing and providing context for one's opinions and/or contradictions is the right and correct thing to do toward whoever suggests a solution.

As far as the procedure is concerned—otherwise we will get bogged down in useless polemics—I would like to clarify for all those reading me that the skin of the rollers is not at all damaged if brushed with brass brushes (even better if they are the ones used for suede shoes, composed of hard bristles and brass fibers). I will go into detail: brush in the direction of the grain and not "against" it. Once the old graphite, which has accumulated over time on the roller from friction against the repetition lever and the escapement strut, has been removed, one can refine it with very fine emery paper (500-600 grit), always following the direction of the roller skin (a practice recommended by the late great technician Daniel Magne of Paris, technician to some of the greatest international names in piano playing). Now, if graphite still remains on the lever and the strut (applied with a brush and polished—this is the only way graphite adheres well, uniformly, and compactly to wooden parts)—one simply limits oneself to "gently" passing a round soft graphite stick over the rollers, in the direction of the grain (this practice was suggested to me by Riccardo Orsini, RCA technician and Arthur Rubinstein's personal technician in Italy during the '60s-'70s). One can also use, as previously mentioned, Teflon powder, which is non-hygroscopic (a modern practice recommended by the American school). (Never talcum powder, which is hygroscopic instead). If one finds wooden parts that have lost their graphite coating, apply graphite again with a brush, wait for it to dry, and polish with felt or cloth.

I repeat: if the light pressure of the keys still produces a "creak" due to the "quiet and slow" friction of the parts, then, in addition to the re-graphiting operation of the wooden parts, one passes a graphite stick gently over the rollers, in the direction of the grain. These procedures have been carried out and tested with excellent results. I repeat, if there is enough space, I will demonstrate this in an upcoming video tutorial.

It's exactly that type of brush that I had tried on some old styli,

It seems too aggressive to me. Very fine sandpaper, on the other hand, gives good results

This is not the type of brush! I would never use this one. I would pray not to take the "recipes" and words literally. One can use a brush of only brass, but with compact and soft fibers. Or a small brush of compact bristles, however, with brass fibers in the center. Everything must be evaluated in person and according to experience and expertise. To think that one can perform or "contest" an intervention based solely on having seen or heard (or simply having "tried"), is it not very fair? The fact of having tried without good results does not mean that the procedure is wrong. Also, the discernment of choosing the lightness of the hand, the direction, the inclination, the pressure, etc., counts. Otherwise, to know how to "do everything," it would be enough to apply the rules. We can, for example, know all the rules and the perfect values and principles to be able to tune... but it is not certain that one can, in this way, achieve good results solely through that. I would like to distinguish, in my opinion and not only, the concept of "notion" from that of "knowledge": I would say that we can learn a notion from a text or through communication from a Teacher, but the notion becomes knowledge through us when we join it with "gaining experience." Everything thought out and realized, as I. Calvino would have emphasized, with "lightness."

P.S. The brushing is not proposed by me as an alternative to sandpaper.