Sticking ivory keytops back on

[richard black]

To my surprise, it took over 5 years after I bought my Bechstein grand to knock the first ivory off - some of them are clearly a little loose but stay in place. When one did get knocked off I scratched my head over how best to fix it, and settled on silicone sealant, which has been entirely successful so I thought I would share the tip.

Yes, this is exactly the stuff sold as bath sealant. But it's used in industry quite a lot as a general-purpose glue and it will stick just about anything, with a lifetime of decades unless it gets mouldy (which it won't under a keytop). It's white (other colours are available but you have to look hard for them) and is a paste when it's applied, so you need to apply steady and even pressure across the keytop and wipe off the excess which will squeeze out around the edges. You've got plenty of time to ensure the fit is correct - it takes a few hours to set. If you ever need to get the keytop off, just slide a knife gently underneath and the silicone will slowly and gracefully give way.

Another tip is that you don't even need to remove the action from the piano. You do need to take off the fall board, and the little wooden bar behind it which stops the keys coming up too high, then lift the key up a few cm so you can get the bottom end of a G-clamp underneath it. I was particularly keen on this because although it's easy to get the Bechstein action out, removing a key is much harder than on more recent pianos (mine was made in 1889).

[ted]

One of mine came off a few years ago. My tuner told me to use Bostik clear, just push it down with my finger for few seconds and leave it to set for a while. Surprisingly, considering the way I play, it seems to have worked, as it hasn't flown off again. Thanks for the tip though, I shall remember it next time.

[indianajo]

Thanks for the tip. If you read the back of the tube of silicon seal, the white bath and kitchen variant (GE and Dap brands both) is 400 deg rated, which means it has a higher glue content than the other colors.
I used silicon seal to glue a 1/32" too small bearing cap on my 1959 car 12/23 one year when the original rolled off in the dark.  Right in front of the casino in Baton Rouge, I think.  I wasted 6 hours trying " liquid steel" brand epoxy in front of an auto supply, which did not work. then I tried the silicon seal I already had for radiator hose leaks.  The cap  still stays glued on the car until I pull it out for annual greasing.
thanks for the tip on how to get the clamp on a key top.  There is a great fifties Baldwin Acrosonic in a Sunday School room at church that needs three key tops.  I can do everything but glissando on an old upright missing tops, but the women of the music committee are afraid of anything that is not "new".  I have fantasies of replacing the dull lifeless badly miked amplified Yamaha studio piano (2005) up front with this bright sparkly fifties Acrosonic 40, but it will never happen.  Most people measure a piano by how attractive the "expert" is that advised them or sold it to them .