CAUT

  • 1.  Installing rubber buttons

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 09-15-2018 11:31
    I know this is an asinine question, but I need to install rubber bumper buttons on some of our Steinway 1098s.  I have the buttons but have trouble getting the small part of the button seated in the hole in the case.  Any suggestions on how you all do this and the type of glue you use.  It would seem to me that the glue should have some flexibility.  Thanks for your responses.
    Joy!
    Elwood

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    Elwood Doss
    Martin TN
    731-587-5700
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  • 2.  RE: Installing rubber buttons

    Posted 09-15-2018 11:32
    Pvc-e works for me!



    Original Message


  • 3.  RE: Installing rubber buttons

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 09-15-2018 12:46
    Elwood 

    a little dab of carpenter glue will do ya.

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    Willem "Wim" Blees, RPT
    Mililani, HI 96789
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    Original Message


  • 4.  RE: Installing rubber buttons

    Posted 09-16-2018 08:56
    Elwood,

    Here are some idea that have worked for me over the years.

    As someone else said, having the correct size bit is important. It needs to be exactly same size as button. For cleaning out an existing hole, I have a designated bit on which I ground the tip flat so as to prevent it from going too deep. (The hole needs to be slightly deeper than the button.) Most importantly though, grinding the tip flat takes away the cutting power of bit keeping it from running all the way through the other side of lid!

    When putting button in, spinning it around has always seemed to work for me; like your screwing the button into the hole. You can also put a little Teflon powder in hole or on button.

    Stephen R Duncan
    Piano Technician, CVPA,
    UNC-Greensboro
    336-847-6310


    Original Message


  • 5.  RE: Installing rubber buttons

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 09-15-2018 14:19
    It can be helpful to "clean out' the hole with a drill bit. It has to be exactly the right size, and do it by hand, just holding the bit in your fingers and turning. To find out the right size, measure, then drill a hole in a scrap piece of wood to be certain of a clean and tight fit. 

    It can be touchy, and I think the problem is usually that the original button was just slightly different diameter from the one you are replacing it with, or maybe some dirt or other problem with the hole (being open without a button, there can be loose wood fibers that might swell in the humidity for instance).
    Regards,
    Fred Sturm
    "I am only interested in music that is better than it can be played." Schnabel




    Original Message


  • 6.  RE: Installing rubber buttons

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 09-16-2018 05:47
    Dry fit the buttons leaving room for glue. Rubber cement has worked very well in other models of that brand. Swab the hole or seat with something like a Q-Tip shank to control the amount of glue dispensed. Less glue is better lest a glue perimeter is created around the button. Contact cement works for this too but is less forgiving.

    Ed Whitting, RPT
    Sent from my iPhone


    Original Message


  • 7.  RE: Installing rubber buttons

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 09-17-2018 07:13
    Use exact bit to clean hole. Use Steinway replacement button for correct button stem size. Twist button in.


    Original Message