Mike Jones Posted June 20, 2019 Share Posted June 20, 2019 Can anyone tell we where to obtain bushing felt? GIven that Mark at Concertinas Spares is on holiday and thus unavailable, I need some more bushing felt to bush the buttons of a 35k Crane duet I'm rebuilding. Both ends had bad cracks and the LHS had separated across the key holes. There is enough wood left, now they are repaired, to re-drill and then bush the holes otherwise they would be too large for the bone buttons and I have run out of red woven bushing felt. My local haberdashery was not able to find anyone manufacturing anything suitable and although I can obtain some green woven baize (for snooker tables) it is rather too coarse. Red woven felt is not essential, black or green would also be acceptable. Any ideas anyone? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Crossland Posted June 20, 2019 Share Posted June 20, 2019 Fletcher Newman offer a good range of woven felts in various thicknesses: https://www.fletcher-newman.co.uk/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theo Posted June 20, 2019 Share Posted June 20, 2019 Charlie Marshall cgmmusical.co.uk sells it I think, and in smaller quantities than you can get from Fletcher and Newman. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex West Posted June 20, 2019 Share Posted June 20, 2019 You can also get felt from Steve Dickinson - maybe slightly pricey per sq m but at least he sells it in small quantities suitable for a single concertina rather than a minimum order from a larger supplier and he knows eactly what's required in terms of thickness and composition Alex West Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Jones Posted June 21, 2019 Author Share Posted June 21, 2019 Thanks to you all. I shall explore the possibilities. Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Ghent Posted July 6, 2019 Share Posted July 6, 2019 Don’t use snooker table baize, it is inclined to become fuzzy. Any piano restoration supplies business will have good quality baize in several thicknesses. They call it bushing cloth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DDF Posted July 6, 2019 Share Posted July 6, 2019 If you need 1 mm these people supply small quantities. https://www.windplus.net/supplies/woven_felt_sheet.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Jones Posted July 7, 2019 Author Share Posted July 7, 2019 Thanks Chris, I did have some table baize that I used to practice bushing some years ago while I was rebuilding an earlier acquisition and It did exactly as you said. I also had some 2mm blue card table baize that is a. too thick and b. does not take to being forced into confined spaces as it pulls apart. DDF : many thanks for the link, even cheaper than CGM. I had found a couple of piano baize suppliers but not that particular one. Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RogerT Posted November 7, 2022 Share Posted November 7, 2022 I’ve found that the thinnest piano felt I can get (less than 1mm) is too thick to line the bushing board. On my own Lachenal 32, which wasn’t bushed I reamed the holes. However, instead enlarging the button holes (on client's instruments) I prefer to find a suitable material. As it happens I’ve got some thinner material (black) that does the job. But I'm curious to know if anyone has other suggestions. The original felt is thinner than the thinnest piano felt I can get my hands on. In fact piano felt is often a bit thick for button lever bushes too, and if the button doesn’t gimbal a little bit on the lever it easily sticks in the button hole. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alex_holden Posted November 7, 2022 Share Posted November 7, 2022 Hainsworth Doeskin works well (first suggested to me by @Sprunghub). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Ghent Posted November 7, 2022 Share Posted November 7, 2022 How thick is that Alex? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alex_holden Posted November 7, 2022 Share Posted November 7, 2022 5 minutes ago, Chris Ghent said: How thick is that Alex? I thought it was less, but I just measured a piece and it's 1mm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RogerT Posted November 9, 2022 Share Posted November 9, 2022 …so anyway, piano bushing felt doesn’t seem to be the right material because it’s often too thick either to bush the upright buttons or to line the bushing plate without reaming the holes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theo Posted November 9, 2022 Share Posted November 9, 2022 Roger have you tried the suppliers mentioned earlier in this discussion? Fletcher & Newman, Steve Dickinson? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RogerT Posted November 10, 2022 Share Posted November 10, 2022 (edited) Hi Theo, I got my supply from Fletchers … I wasn’t sure which of the two thinnest felts were appropriate so ordered the thinnest two..😀 but still they aren’t thin enough, and the stuff I got from Concertina Spares is the same stuff. The first time I encountered this problem I just thought it was a fluke, but it isn’t. So I've Obvs got the wrong stuff… the thinnest bushing cloth on Fletcher is 0.85mm Edited November 10, 2022 by RogerT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theo Posted November 10, 2022 Share Posted November 10, 2022 I use the .85mm felt and usually it’s fine. Are you ensuring all traces of old adhesive are cleaned out? Are you using a tool to bed in the felt after fitting? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RogerT Posted November 10, 2022 Share Posted November 10, 2022 Hi, yes to both. But I’m pretty sure the old bushing material used was thinner than 0.85mm..esp having checked the stuff I’ve recovered. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rod Pearce Posted November 12, 2022 Share Posted November 12, 2022 Mike I bought this bushing felt, sold by the Piano Accessory Shop, I went for the 0.85mm thickness. https://www.pianoaccessoryshop.co.uk/product/bushing-cloth-strips-0-85mm-1-8mm-for-flange-keys/ Currently priced on their website for £15.95 – £17.95 Description Strip of Red Bushing Cloth for for flanges and key bushing in grand and upright pianos Colour: Red Size of set: 75 mm X 915 mm Thickness and Application: 0.8mm – Flange 1.00mm – Flange 1.3mm – Flange/ Key 1.5mm – Key 1.8mm – Key Rod Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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