Perflex and Tuftane
By Craig Brougher
Just curious about the pouch material "Tuftane." Never heard of that one. Does anyone know more about it? Perflex was truly a joke, as, in our Missouri environment it might last up to two years in an instrument which was played heavily, and yet was advertised to be a virtually indestructible plastic when used as pouches for organs and pianos. Makes one wonder what tree these guys pick their specs off of, doesn't it?
Besides the ravages of "dihydrogen oxide" on Perflex (that guaranteed PERmanently FLEXible, totally indestructible compound), it was also noted that the ozone created by motor brushes in organ pumps quickened the destruction of Perflex perhaps by a factor of two. Even in very dry climates with low humidity, the stuff began to break in less than two years. Now they're telling us they have a new (?) plastic that will last 15 to 20 years, when they should know that pouch leather has been proven to outlast their most ambitious figure by at least triple, and maybe quadruple that claim? [That's still a long time for legitimate rebuilders to be biting their nails.] I have found that the more stable the plastic, the more difficult it should be to glue anything to. So once we find a material able to withstand 60-80 years' operation in a player as leather can, I will then be wondering how anybody expects to glue it down. It would have to be either "welded" or clamped.
Craig B.
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(Message sent Sun 8 Sep 1996, 22:30:21 GMT, from time zone GMT.) |
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