Re your post in 021211 MMDigest.  I was rebuilding mostly reproducing
pianos in the 1960s but I knew a local player piano man (now deceased)
that used to rebuild the Gulbransen actions and he used a unique idea.
As I understand it the striker pneumatics are glued wood-to-wood and
this presents a big problem.

What he did was take the action to one of those places that fast
freeze meat for long term storage and pay them (of course) to deep
freeze those portions of the player action.  The pneumatics are glued
originally with hide glue.  While deep frozen he struck each one with
a mallet and the hide glue came apart without damaging the striker
pneumatic.  Then he could clean them up and recover them.  I think he
may have glued them back with a gasket in case they had to ever come
apart again.

I was told how he got the valve and pouch portions apart was that he
passed them through a table saw ( with a fine tooth blade) and cut them
apart to gain access to the innards.  Then he glued them back together
with a gasket the proper thickness to make up for the saw cut (like
cork -- maybe that you can buy at automotive parts houses).

A nice trick we learned to clean up the old hide glue was to use a
hand-held propane torch and carefully play the flame onto the old
glue.  This would crystallize and melt it so it could easily be scraped
away with a scraper.  We clamped the pieces being cleaned into a wood
workers vice before playing the torch flame onto what we wanted to
clean up (saves burning your hand).

Ellsworth Johnson
Spokane, WA