I’m asking if anybody has any ideas about how to improve the slipperiness of the overlay surface. I’m asking because the glossy surface on my piano overlay has worn off making it more difficult to slide my fingers up/down the keys. I want to improve the slickness so that it is easier to slide my fingers.
I’m thinking of trying ArmorAll. What’s your idea? Thanks!
Imho neoprene has a nice haptic feedback, allows gliding with less resistance and is also quite durable.
See the Continuano thread: How to build your own Continuano
Thanks for your feedback.
Is the Morph piano or the continuano overlay (or both) made of neoprene?
Have you noticed that the coating on the Morph piano overlay wears off from use? Unfortunately it causes a bit too much friction to be able to slide fingers easily in the vertical direction. Although, I do like the feel of the material, but just want to make it more slippery - like it was before the coating wore off.
What about your continuano… Does it have a coating? Is it easy to slide your fingers vertically on the keys?
The Continuano overlay can be made of neoprene - or whichever material you print it on, it currently cannot be bought, only made by yourself 
(well, you can let it print in a printshop)
The official piano overlay is some kind of (other) plastic, quite different from neoprene. Mine are still in good condition. But I honestly haven’t played with them very much, the key size needs some getting used to…
I looked up what the overlays are made of and found that they are made of “silicone rubber with a silicone top-coating for a smooth feel”.
So it’s the silicone top-coating that is wearing off and thus - loosing that smooth feel.
The silicone top-coating is wearing off because my fingernails are making contact with the coating when I play. My hands are clean, don’t wear lotions and my fingernails are kept relatively short, but it is difficult to avoid fingernail contact when your fingertips come straight down on the keys. I don’t scrape my fingernails across the surface, but they do touch frequently. Also, finger oils are unavoidable and wonder if that would break down of the top coating.
I think that any new overlay’s top coating is going to wear off from normal play, sooner or later, so I’m going to figure out how to restore the coating myself. I will start by looking for a silicone coating that can be sprayed or rubbed onto the keyboard.
Thanks!
To overcome finger slide resistance, I sprayed my piano overlay with ArmorAll Extreme Tire Shine. I thought that the TireShine would work the best because it is meant to be used on rubber, although regular ArmorAll might work just as well. I let the liquid sit on the surface for about 10 minutes before rubbing it in, wiping it off and letting it dry. The Tire Shine did reduce the resistance and my fingers slide on the surface more easily now. It’s been more than 2 weeks and I’m still satisfied. The only thing is… I cannot recommend this solution to anyone because I don’t know if there could be any harmful health effects from touching the surface, even though its been a couple of weeks.
@rgately Glad to hear you found a solution that satisfies you. Please continue to keep us posted!
