Repairing Broken Accidentals

[vortmaxx]

I apologize in advance, as this is not related to an ep.

I was playing an older upright last night which had just been acquired by a local bar. Towards the end of the night, I managed to break 2 of the black key tops off. They are plastic and hollow. I've been doing a lot of poking around the web today, and have found a lot of various opinions about what I could use to re-glue them.

I know there are some professional techs around here, and was just wondering what some of you would recommend that I might be able to pick up at a local hardware store.

Thanks in advance for any help.

[vortmaxx]

I guess I'll start with contact cement?

http://ep-forum.com/smf/index.php?topic=7057.0

[pianotuner steveo]

If you know how to remove the keys, that would be helpful to do a more professional job. If not, contact cement will work, but you need to be real careful not to drip any glue down the sides of the key, or else it may stick to the key next to it. If you can put weights on the neighboring white keys, that may help to drop them down, so you can see alignment better. Make sure the front of the black plastic is flush with the front of the wooden keystick. On pianos with wooden sharps, titebond is better. It is better if you can sand the too of the wooden key, but may not be possible without removing. That previous thread where I mentioned contact cement was more about replacing the white key tops, but since your sharps are plastic, that is ok here too. Do not use CA glue for key tops, and never use water based glue on real ivory.

[vortmaxx]

Thanks Steveo. I picked up a small bottle of that weldwood contact cement and went at it last night. No problems pulling the keys out. I followed the instructions per light sanding, cleaning and prepping both pieces, glued the tops back on, and set them with a couple of small clamps while I had a pint. After about an hour, I put everything back together and played a little just to make sure everything was okay. So far, so good. Thanks again!