When restoring my Winter & Co. Player for conversion to "O" roll
orchestrion I found the ivories were yellowed. The black keys around
the centre of the key board had 50% of the paint off. I believe it
was played more by hand than by a roll.
However, to whiten the ivories, not knowing any better at the time,
I used 1500 grit and/or 600 grit emery paper, then used Brasso metal
polish to get the 'gloss' back. This seemed to work okay. I only
did five keys per day, as it was tiresome.
My parent's piano in the UK, purchased second-hand, I believe, in the
mid-1940s, was a 'Challen' make. I believe it was a 'top' make. The
ivories were good and white and with a nice 'grain' like I have never
seen before and since. I remember that the keytop was a complete strip,
i.e., no split at the line of the black key. Maybe the UK readers can
verify this.
Stephen Bentley
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
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