Hi everybody; I'd like to add a couple of comments to Bruce Clarks
posting in yesterday's MMD (990215).  Maybe the first solvent to try 
is alcohol.  If it doesn't work then at least it evaporates very
quickly and you can move on to kerosene.  (Here in Australia I would
use white spirit rather than kerosene -- we had a somewhat inconclusive
discussion about what 'white spirit' really is about 18 months ago in 
the MMD.)

If you move on to acetone, treat it with great care.  Acetone vapor and
air form an explosion mixture over a very wide range of concentrations,
so don't use acetone with a naked flame or source of sparks nearby or 
a smouldering cigarette between your lips (or attached anywhere else to
your anatomy).

Benzene is another solvent that might work, but only as a last resort.
It is nasty stuff, possibly carcinogenic if you make a habit of
inhaling lungfuls of it, and doesn't do your liver and kidneys a lot of
good.  Only use acetone or benzene with lots of ventilation.  

Ideally you should work outside with these, but who's going to take 
an unrolled piano roll outside?  My technique on the rare occasions 
I use these fluids is to take a deep breath, uncap the bottle, apply
the fluid, recap the bottle, go well away, take a second breath and
don't return to the scene of the crime for several minutes.

Whatever solvent you try, apply it to the top of the tape and to the
underside of the paper, to make sure the solvent reaches the paper-glue
interface.

Bruce mentions peeling the tape off the paper.  Before you do this,
make sure that it actually will peel off.  It's easy to get too
enthusiastic and remove the top layer of paper too.  My favored
technique is to apply the solvent with a child's paintbrush with
slightly stiff bristles and then tease away at the edges of the tape
with the brush.  Check that the solvent isn't going to dissolve the
bristles first!

If glue remains on the paper after the tape finally comes off, wad up a
paper tissue, wet it with the solvent and wipe the roll surface gently.

For many really old bits of tape on piano rolls the best solvent is
water.  However it's also the solvent most likely to damage the surface
of the roll if you aren't very careful.  Teasing away at the surface of
the roll will lift paper fibers sooner or later.  I try to apply water
only to the top surface of the tape and use lots of patience.

John Phillips in Hobart, Tasmania


 [ Editor's note:
 [
 [ I used Alta Vista to search for "white spirit"+solvent and found
 [ this information:
 [
 [ 'White spirit', also known as 'Stoddard Solvent', is a hydrocarbon
 [ solvent which can be almost any mixture of acyclic hydrocarbons,
 [ including n-pentane, n-hexane, petroleum ether, solvent naphtha.
 [
 [ Stoddard Solvent is a colorless, flammable liquid that smells and
 [ tastes like kerosene. It will turn into a vapor at temperatures from
 [ 150 to 200 degrees C.
 [
 [ Fifty years ago white spirit was a popular solvent for dry-cleaning
 [ clothing, and it's still popular in Japan.  While this solvent is
 [ relatively kind to garments, it is highly flammable and will not meet
 [ the health and safety standards in many countries.   It is used as a
 [ thinning agent in paints and varnishes, as a solvent in liquid photo-
 [ copier toners, for auto engine de-greasing and for general-purpose
 [ cleaning.
 [
 [ -- Robbie