[CAUT] tone building for impatient pianists

[David Love]

In the manufacturer's data sheet (you can usually find these on line) the
solids ratios are listed and you are correct, the Steinway 3:1 ratio is
based on an already diluted solution.  8:1 or 9:1 will be the equivalent for
most off the shelf lacquers.  There is a thread on this in the archives
(pianotech) from a year or more back in which Schandall's input on the
solids content of S&S lacquer is included.  Perhaps someone has  saved
something from that and can communicate the date and name.  

 

David Love

www.davidlovepianos.com

 

From: caut-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:caut-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of Fred
Sturm
Sent: Thursday, November 20, 2008 6:20 PM
To: caut at ptg.org
Subject: Re: [CAUT] tone building for impatient pianists

 

On Nov 20, 2008, at 6:57 PM, David Love wrote:





I should add that the dilution you use will depend on the solids content of
the lacquer you are using.

 

            This is a VERY important point. For a long time the Steinway
techs based their recommendations on the lacquer they got out of the
factory, which was already diluted for spraying. Then Eric Schandall checked
the solids ratio and found that it was, as I recall off the top of my head
(please don't take this as gospel), about 11-12%, or about half the normal
20-25%. Unfortunately, not all lacquer labels give solids ratios. And, of
course, if you've had it around a while, a bunch of solvent may have
evaporated, making it thicker. To check my own supply, I weighed a small
amount in a bottle cap (weighed the bottle cap empty first), then set it to
evaporate and weighed again dry after a couple weeks.

            It's a real problem trying to make sense of various people's
recommendations and warnings when we don't really have the same standard.
This is just by way of warning to the unwary: take the ratios with a grain
of salt, and use your own experience and judgment. WIth some experience, you
can tell by the look and consistency, but saying "like water" or something
along those lines isn't really precise enough.


Regards,

Fred Sturm

University of New Mexico

fssturm at unm.edu

 

 

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