Bill Maguire wrote in 091107 MMDigest, "Repairing Pneumatics...":

> ... This went against everything I ever experienced and was told
> about Perflex.

Back when I was in the organ repair business, and Perflex was
brand new, I was sent a sample of Perflex from the factory to try out.
Being a purist, and disliking anything other than original materials,
I never used it.  I wasn't too surprised a few years later when it was
discovered that Perflex deteriorated quite rapidly.

A few years ago, I found that sample, and I was amazed that it was
still strong and supple.  Doing a bit of research, I found that the
original product was developed for military use, and was then "watered
down" for civilian use, which changes caused it to break down rapidly.

In short, the original product was great, and would have lasted for
many years.  The sad part is we didn't _get_ the original product
except for that original sample.

Bob Loesch
Northern California, USA

 [ At http://www.mmdigest.com/archives/Digests/199601/1996.01.14.03.html 
 [  "The original batch is *still* in use in some instruments today.
 [   The production batches, however, were modified (to cut costs)
 [   and that formulation was a disaster."
 [ MMDigest articles about Perflex are indexed at
 [   http://www.mmdigest.com/archives/KWIC/P/perflex.html 
 [ -- Robbie