I Really Shouldn't

be taking time to blog. I should get to bed and get a good night's sleep in anticipation of.....


The gargantuan amount of work that I've got to do.

I'm reaching borderline panic stage.

In some ways I hope that it slows down just a bit! Well, actually I'm thankful that the income is good but the timing could have been a little more evenly spaced. Here's what my job board looks like. Names have been altered (squiggled) to protect the mostly innocent. The black check marks show jobs that have been completed. Those are from the last couple weeks of September and the first week of October. Customer X from the last post has finally sent the money and his keys are being worked on. By the way, here's a picture of how customer X packed his keys. Now tell me, would you want your finished keys packed in that manner? Yeesh, I'll have to find a bigger box to pack them properly to avoid damage in shipping. Customer Y has paid in full. Customer Z still owes me. Another technician's keys were completed and shipped today. H.....'s keys arrived today and the rest (another four sets) are due to arrive on Friday. The Bo....job in the middle of the board is a big one. I placed one supply order for that job and I have to wait until the work arrives to order some more things that are custom sized. And still two in home service jobs tomorrow morning, the reed organ to finish and the player piano parts to finish and return to the piano in the customer's home.

All before the end of the month.

Must mention that there will be more key jobs arriving in the upcoming weeks to add to the load.

I told you that H's keys arrived today. H is a really nice customer. He sent keys for rebushing, does not need new keytops but wanted to know how to clean up the existing tops. They are made of pyralin and many are badly stained. I experimented with one today and steel-wooled the stains out and then carefully machine buffed the keytop. Pyralin will burst into flames with very little heat so buffing has to be swift and cautious. If you get a bit zealous, well.....poof! I'm going to surprise H with a cleaned up set of tops - no charge.

And while I'm doing a work related post I will include a "What's It?" This tool belonged to my paternal grandfather. I want to know what it is. The "handle/gauge/whatever" will slide up and down the incline and can be locked into place at any point along the slope. So are there any machinists out there that know the function? My grandfather was a machinist for McCall's magazine, maintaining all the printing equipment for the company sometime during the 1940's and 50's. And sparring partner for Jack Johnson on his (Jack's) voyages to Europe, and a no hit pitcher! Stories for other times. Anyway, show this picture to your knowledgeable friends if you don't know what it is, and get an answer to me.

Thanks and good night..............