It's Alive part II - Shellac?

[Susan Kline]

I prefer shellac to lacquer and especially to keytop, as well. I like
the way the tone gets softer with time and use, instead of harder and nastier.
It's also less toxic (in ethanol) than the alternatives. It does leave
a little color in the hammer, even though I use the ultrablonde, quite
diluted. But this does enable one to see how far it has soaked in.

Susan

At 10:10 PM 12/3/2003 -0500, you wrote:
>Margaret-
>
>I use blonde shellac (shellac 1 gram/alcohol 1 oz) to harden and brighten 
>hammers.
>It is easy to work in single and multiple applications, needles easily, 
>and smells
>a lot nicer than acetone or lacquer thinner.
>I like the sound but don't claim to speak with authority beyond my own 
>preference.
>I don't like lacquer, so I learned this way. I haven't used it on concert 
>pianos
>except for slight brightening of tone.
>Someone told me that before the introduction of lacquer finishes, shellac 
>was used
>to harden hammers in the Steinway factory.
>I yield to the opinions of my more knowledgable colleagues.
>
>Ed Sutton