This evening I spent removing the heavy felt that supports the wippens at the back of Yuri's action. The process involves patience, a steam iron and a damp rag. Hide glue was the product of choice back in 1908. It's obviously stable for decades but some damp heat released the felt from the wood (or should I say, what was left of it.)
I'd noticed a few small holes in the felt at one end making me suspicious that termites may have been active in an area that appeared sound. Not so! The heavy felt masked three other significant areas of termite damage. At least now I have everything revealed. It still appears there's enough wood to hold and shape the epoxy "cure" which I'll begin this Thursday under Frank's tutelage.
Fixing the keyframe with the epoxy will no doubt take some time as each small section will need to be blocked out separately with wood & wax paper held in place with clamps. Epoxy, gravity, curing time and sanding will complete the process. After the keyframe is restored then I'll need to replace the termite eaten felts. Guess I'd better order those tonight -- they might arrive by the time I'm finished with the keybed.
With Yuri torn apart for the forseeable future, it looks like my aspirations last night to give him an appropriate formal portrait will be on hold for a while. I just hope Zelda isn't getting jealous from all the extra attention this damaged prodigal son is receiving.
In the long run she's sure to benefit from what I learn from Yuri. Ultimately, she's the more valuable instrument so I've been reluctant to use her as my teaching instrument to address the small number of restringing issues she has. As with his action and damaged dampers, Yuri's strings are all going to have to be removed given the rusted tuning pins and a number of broken strings he has. I have no choice. So, hopefully, by the time I get to replacing Zelda's few damaged strings I'll have mastered the skills required.
Time to dig into the Schaff supply catalog, make an order and call it a night.
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