How is it done?

How is this done? There are 2 ways. Since the “D” key had to be moved to the right we could try bending its rear pin a little to the left. If you move the rear of the key to the left it will cause the front of the key to move to the right. This solution works ...... to a point.

If the move necessary is VERY slight it will work fine. If the movement necessary is not quite so slight, it won’t. Bend the rear pin a little too far and the slot in the back of the key will bind on the key and the key won’t be able to move up and down.

The second method, which I prefer, is to fix the warp in the key itself. This is done by applying heat (from a heat gun) to the side of the key – bending the key in the proper direction – holding the key (with your hands) and applying pressure in the proper direction until the key cools. This is pretty quick. It takes about 20 seconds with the heat gun and about 20 seconds of pressure while the key cools. Of course there’s a little trial and error involved. It is possible to over-correct in which case you apply heat to the opposite side and bend in the opposite direction. Not being a wood chemist, I don’t know why this works – but it does work and, more importantly, is more or less permanent. It might have to be done again later in the construction process if the key continues to warp but most of the time this isn’t necessary. Keep in mind that we’re only bending the key a small amount – usually around 1/64” [.3 mm] to, at most, 1/32” [.8mm]. This doesn’t require a lot of heat and I’ve never found the need to wear gloves.

Of course, the sharp keys may also need this heat treatment. However, straighten the natural keys first. Then, you can work on the sharps keys to center them between their two surrounding natural keys.