Hello All,  As a follow-up to my previous post regarding the fitting
of comb teeth using an adhesive, I would firstly like to thank those
few who responded and also apologise to anyone who may have been
offended by my comments.

The initial problem was that it was assumed by the readers that
I knew nothing at all about musical boxes, and I was warned off
attempting to "dabble" in something best left to experts.

Having explained that I have already got quite a lot of experience
already, and have not wrecked any musical boxes yet, I have since
exchanged a few e-mails with Reg Smith, and we now have much more
friendly understanding, and offers of future assistance have been
promised both ways.

As it turns out I don't think many (if any) people have attempted
the tooth gluing technique yet, so I might give it a try on an old
movement and see what happens.  Watch this space.

On another subject, has anybody else ever tried straightening bent
comb teeth by blast peening?

I have been doing some experiments with a small machine called a
"Pencil blast".  This gives an extremely fine jet of compressed air
and small glass beads, and when used carefully will coax bent teeth
back into line with the greatest of ease and no risk of any mechanical
or thermal damage.

It also makes a wonderful job of removing any rust etc from the comb
steel without resorting to wire brushing and abrasive cloth methods:
it gets right into the bottom of any pitting and leaves a clean uniform
matte finish which is ready for a final polish.

Regards
Phil Procter