Vic Marsilio wrote in MMD 04.03.28:

> Does anyone have any suggestions regarding finding replacements
> and what adhesive should be used?

Your best bet is to go to a piano technician that deals in old pianos.
It is common practice to remove the ivory when the piano is beyond
repair or the keys are replaced with plastic (what a sin).  The size
of the keys on the Aeolian/Skinner organ is the same as a piano.  They
are made from two pieces of Ivory (head and tail).

To glue ivory to wood keys, the only right way is to use _wafers._
Ivory Cement Wafers are pieces of cloth that are impregnated with a
special blend of hide glue and white color pigments.    The only place
you will be able to find them is from a good piano technician.  If you
have access to Schaff or one of the other piano supply stores, you can
also buy them at a reasonable cost.

What you do is remove all of the old glue on the key with a damp cloth
and iron.  Make sure that you clean the edges of the ivory where the
head and the tail piece meet.  They have to match perfectly or else it
leaves a very noticeable line.

You will need a special clamp that can be submerged in boiling water.
This is used to clamp the glue wafer between the ivory and the wood
surface of the key.  The heat is necessary to liquefy the glue in the
wafer.  The process is as follows:

 * Heat key clamp in boiling water.
 * Take glue wafer and dip in cold water for 30 seconds.
 * Put wafer between ivory and wood key.
 * Apply the hot clamp to the top of the ivory key.
 * Align ivory to the key and screw clamp tight.

The instructions say that the glue will dry in one hour, but I have
found that things work better if I leave it for eight hours.  This
makes sure that the glue holds properly when old curled ivory is used.

Pete Knobloch (Tempe Arizona, USA)