About twenty years ago I decided to recover the keys to my Aeolian
Duo-Art upright.  I ordered the plastic keys from Player Piano Company.
What I received were injection-molded black plastic sharps, white plastic
covers and key fronts and a bottle of glue (which smelled like airplane
glue).

With the parts in hand, I began to visualize the process of installation.
I became concerned with the installation of the sharps.  How could a thin
layer of glue hold the hollow sharps on to the wood?  So I chickened out
and returned the sharps to PPCo.  (I had no problem with that).

I went ahead and sanded the original wood sharps the best I could.  They
looked decent after several coats of black lacquer.

The question I have now is (and this has been bothering me all these
years): Was I wrong in assuming that the sharps would be weak and not be
able to resist any side pressure over the years?  Also, was there more to
gluing the sharps, like the addition of dowels to give the sharp added
sideways strength?  Funny how these things linger on for years and years.

Andy LaTorre
Orgue Mecanique
Cullowhee, NC