When I did my first couple of pianos, I didn't bother to clean up the
metal rods, linkages, etc.  I just put them together to make 'em work,
and then did a nice case restoration.  Nowadays when I tackle one, I do
everything.  Every rod, linkage, crankshaft, lever, screw head, gizmo,
or whatever that is made of metal gets done.

If the part was originally plated, I'll polish it on a polishing wheel,
or, if it's bad enough, I have it replated.  If the part was bare metal,
I'll clean it up by one of several methods.  Really bad corrosion and
metal castings usually require bead blasting.  A wire wheel on a buffer
does a nice job as well, especially for rods, crankshafts, and the like.
A fine sandpaper works well on rods too.

After cleaning, I'll usually spray with clear lacquer to prevent further
corrosion.  Springs can be cleaned on the wire wheel or in the blast
cabinet.  Rough metal castings look very nice if coated with a metallic
aluminum-colored engine enamel after blasting.  It's only a couple of
bucks per rattle-can at the local hardware store.  I don't see the need
for chemicals for corrosion removal on piano parts.

Cleaning up the metal pieces really "finishes" off a piece, even though
it has little effect on performance.  This is a hobby for me, so my
labor is "free" and I do the job the way I want it.  For those working
for a customer, this could easily be considered expensive overkill.

I have two buffers.  One has the wire wheel on one end and a light cloth
buffing wheel (for rouge) on the other.  For this use, a 1/4 HP motor is
adequate.  The other buffer is a 1 HP motor, and has the heavy, bound-
cloth buffing wheel on one end and a sanding wheel on the other.  I use
the heavy cutting compound (for stainless steel) almost exclusively for
buffing, although brass doesn't require a heavy cutting grit.  The
sanding wheel is about 6" diameter and about 1.5" wide.  It takes a
sanding belt that is locked in place by expansion of the rubber disc
when the motor starts.  You can't believe how useful this sanding belt
is in working with metals.  I use 280 grit sanding belts, and it will
remove copious amounts of metal to clean up parts, shorten screws, clean
up serious corrosion, etc.  You can buy these from Eastwood.  It's
called an "expander wheel" -- an incredibly useful tool.

The Eastwood webpage for the expander wheel is at:

http://www.eastwood.com/jump.jsp?itemID=983&itemType=CATEGORY&iMainCat=706&iSubCat=983

The expander wheel is on p. 83 of its catalog.

Ray Fairfield