RE: Piano Finishing Schedule

> I have a piano technician friend that has recently imported several grand
> pianos from Germany. They are all antique with a black finish. 
> He has asked me to refinish the cases for him. 
> The first one to be refinished is a Bluthner, made in 1885. 
> Would this have been a shellac finish? (I have not seen the piano yet)  
> What finishing schedules are you piano rebuilders using
> on your antique satin black pianos??
> WayneG




KevinH writes:

Wayne

I'm not sure what the orginal finish is, if indeed the orginal finish is still on it.  
The old 1880's Bluthners that I have done have been in pretty crusty condition, 
including a lot of cabinet and veneer work.  If the orginal  finish is salvageable, 
by all means try to save it, but usually they are beyond saving and most of 
the orginal technical parts of the piano have been replaced anyway, so it's 
antiquity is already gone.

After taking it apart, labeling the hardware, removing the action, and taping 
and papering off the plate and soundboard, I strip the case with semi paste 
remover.  I strip all the parts with a flow over liquid no wash remover and 
wash with lacquer thinner.

Then its to the repairing of veneer and fender and dent work.   I usually sand 
to about 150-180 grit and then shoot one coat of lacquer vinyl sealer.  
If there is any open grained wood, I always use a paste filler and let it dry 
2-3 days.   I like to shoot the first coat of lacquer over the sanded sealer 
with an hour to be sure of good adhesion to the vinyl sealer.  With a black 
lacquer job I use nitro black lacquer cut 50/50 into clear gloss and build 
the whole finish with that.  I usually sand between ever other coat with 
220-320 and build as many coats as necessary.  For a formal rubbed 
lacquer finish the coat count runs anywhere between  6-9 coats.  

The decal gets put on the fallboard around the 5th coat and gets 3-4 clear  
topcoats.  Letting the finish dry as much as possible between all the coats 
makes for a much nicer job.  If possible, I try to build most of the finish, 
and let it dry a week  before before sanding and spraying the final 2-3 coats.  
I like to let the final coats dry at least a week (once again the longer the 
better) before rubbing.  For rubbing, I cut the finish with 400--600 with an 
inline sander , then I use the grey scotchbright on the inline machine before 
a final rubbing with 0000 wool and lube.  This will give you a traditional rubbed  
semi/satin sheen.  If you want it a little glossier, finish it off with rottenstone.

I'm sure you will get some other great ideas from the rest of the gang.

Good luck,  

KevinHancock







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