Repairs
Chipped or Missing Keytops
White keytops are made of either ivory or plastic.
Ivory keytops
Each ivory keytop is actually two pieces of ivory, butted together: the wider part (the part which is played on) and the narrow part or "tail" that extends back between the black keys. Pianos from the early 1900s originally had ivory keytops, altho many pianos from that era have had the ivory replaced with plastic keytops.
Chipped ivories
If a few keys have chipped ivory, I can often repair the chips with a special mixture called "AcryliKey" developed by Richard Wagner, a piano technician from Portland. There are many varieties of ivory keytops out there. Most are good candidates for having chips repaired, some are not. I can only tell when I see the keys.
When a lot of keytops are chipped, it is more cost effective to have all the white keytops replaced with plastic tops. See below.
Missing ivories
Sometimes the original glue holding the ivories on dries out too much and the keytops pop off. The best case scenario is that the owner has the keytops or they are still inside the piano somewhere (under the keys, for instance). In that case, I can clean them and glue them back on properly.
Ivories have been improperly glued on if they "look really different" from the keys that are still originally attached. Usually these improperly glued keytops will look darker, streaky, or otherwise ugly. This is because ivory is translucent. If the back of an ivory keytop is not coated with something white, the wood of the key (and possibly dirt and old glue, if the keytop has been off for a while) will show through the ivory. If the keytop was not glued on with something permanent, like super glue, it can be removed, cleaned and reglued properly.
When the ivory tops are really missing and not available, I can try to match them as well as I can using keytops I've removed from keys that were sent for recovering. Because of the wide variety of types of ivory, if keytops are replaced like this by me or some other technician, they may not match perfectly.
If more than a few keytops are missing, it is usually more cost efficient and attractive to have all the white keytops replaced with plastic. See below.
Plastic keytops
If there is no "join" between the front and "tail" part of the keytop, it is plastic. (Some ivory keytops are so well joined and buffed that it is hard to see the join. You may have to look really hard.) If a plastic keytop is missing or damaged, it can be replaced. However, there are a few thicknesses of plastic tops, and some plastic keytops have the fronts attached. I carry one type of plastic keytops with me. Others I have to order.
Replacing a set of keytops
If your piano needs all the keytops replaced (either all the white keys, or both white and black keys), I send them to a technian in the Portland area who specializes in this repair - in fact, it is all he does! This ensures that my customers get a high quality job, performed by someone who has a shop set up with the specific equipment needed to do a perfect job and offer a fast turn around. I will pick up your keys, pack them, ship them, bring them back and replace them in your piano. This process does not affect any other aspect of your piano, like tuning or regulation.
Black keys
Black keys in older pianos and some new pianos are wood, usually ebony, that is stained black. Beginning sometime in the mid-1900s, manufacturers started making black keytops out of plastic. There are a few sizes of black plastic keytops. I carry some with me and can order others if a black keytop has come off and is lost.
Black wood keytops which have the finish worn off and the wood grain showing can be lightly sanded and dyed.