Mechanical Music Digest is a forum of several different groups of
people with diverse thoughts.  My only hope is that all who have read
the wonderful virtues of using anything but hot hide glue to glue
pneumatics in a player piano will realize that only the tried and true
method of using hot hide glue is the absolute correct solution.

An example at hand would be the Universal Player Piano or the late
model Aeolian players.  If you want to know about gaskets between
striker pneumatics and the deck rails then try newspaper as it was used
a lot in the old days.

If you like R-T-Whatever glue then notice how well these materials last
around the house.  They don't last forever.  If you like the GE Silicon
then try redoing a player that has it all down in the cracks and it is
now loose after only a few years.

If you like concrete block sealer then try redoing a set of valves that
has this cure-all sealing all the valves in place.  It just does not
scrape off.  If you insist on using it then shellac the parts first so
it can be removed when the sponge rubber inside goes hard and no longer
seals.

And notice how long that hot hide glue has lasted.  It was rice glue
that caused pianos to be tropicalised.  Very few hammer heads glued
with hide glue come loose unless they are incorrectly glued in the
beginning (another subject).

If you really want to just make the player piano look fresh then just
paint everything.  After all, you are now at the point that you are
just trying to make some old piano try to play and look better.  You
are certainly not "restoring" the piano -- you are just making it work.

So I guess there are two camps: the camp of those who would like to
leave a legacy of fine craftsmanship for some future generation to see,
and the camp of "Let's just get it done with no regard to historical
insignificance."  In which camp do you want to be remembered?

Don Teach