-- non-subscriber, please reply to sender and MMD --

Hi -- I'm a hobbyist woodworker who recently bought an old Cable
Euphona player piano.  I've gotten the two books by Art Reblitz (on
Piano repair and on player pianos), and am now beginning the rebuild
process.

I saw on an old post that someone else was looking for other people who
own Cable Euphonas.  I'd like to contact some of those people as well,
mostly because I have several short sections of tubing that go nowhere,
and I know some pneumatics are missing, so I'd like to contact someone
that might be able to take a picture of their working one and email
them to me so I know how to finish fixing this one.

Now my question:  While rebuilding the piano action, I found that
someone in the past had put some kind of wax (beeswax?) on the
balance-rail pins.  This has only served to gum it up, making the
keys reluctant to return to their normal position.  I've used mineral
spirits to clean the key pins, and it's much better, but can anyone
tell me _why_ someone would do this in the first place?

Thank you
Bill Mackin