Piano finish?

Feb 11, 2005 22 Replies

How do you get a "piano finish" on wood? Can a wrecker do this or is it an industrial process requiring complicated technology.



(In case I'm using the wrong term, what I have seen referred to as piano finish is wood that looks like it has been covered with a thin layer of lucite - very shiny and "deep".



FoggyTown



See:

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Novak Buffalo, NY - USA (Remove "SPAM" from email address to reply)

lacquer (many coats) - sprayed, color sanded, buffed and waxed.

Dave

anyone describe how Steinway got that same black, deep finish that seemed to have hidden orange or golden oak sort of highlights deep in the finish? You couldn't see the streaks until you got right on top of the finish, then they showed up. Slight bit of wood grain showed thru the streaks only, as well. Most beautiful finish I've ever seen, IMHO.

I believe that finish is done with lacquer that is tinted black.

-- Jack Novak Buffalo, NY - USA (Remove "SPAM" from email address to reply)

One thing this guy says is when using lacquer to provide ventilation. This just isn't enough. Only a proper resperator will do

Think about it. How long have pianos been around?

Q. Who brought the first piano to America?

A. A couple of piano movers.

The finish on the outside of the piano has nothing to do with the sound, only that on the soundboard, so IMO you might as well take advantage of the automotive basecoat-clearcoat systems. This is largely true of stereo speakers as well.

It's kind of involved. First you take a piano, then you grind it into a fine powder. Mix it with lacquer thinner or denatured alcohol, then load into your HVLP sprayer. Watch out that you don't get it clogged up with bits of wire.

Something like that. Or you could cheat, and just use lacquer.

I find that the belt sander does a great job for getting the old piano into a fine dust. Use 60 grit for the early coats working down to 220 as you go.

Remove the wires first.

You lose too much dust to scattering. I prefer to use a good card scraper with about a 5-degree hook.

I find a 4 degree hook is better. Honest, I just spent $13,000 for an optical comparator so I can measure the hook of my scrapers.

Would have been cheaper just to buy a pre-finished piano, wouldn't it?

They're _starting_ with a pre-finished piano,

The object of the exercise is to get the 'piano finish' onto a *different*

*item*.

_This_ discussion concerns technique for removing it from the piano, in powdered from, suitable for applying to the other item.

Just in case no one else has said this . . .

Pianos are nearly all lacquer finish of varying quality, give or take the odd church basement paint job.

It's a two step process:

  1. Find a veneer that matches your piano case veneer.

  1. Apply lacquer to it.

Is that somewhat similar to a photo finish? Two pianos, at the finish line......

The very shiny, deep finish on is not lacquer, it is polyester. Acrylic urethanes will come close, particularly in non-black. See ICA, or other Italian manufacturers. These arde the same finishes one sees on high-end European kitchens, like Snaidero.

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