wood filler

[Bob Sadowski]

Jim,
   What did you use to stain the compound?

Bob Sadowski
Erie, PA

-----Original Message-----
From: JIMRPT@AOL.COM <JIMRPT@AOL.COM>
To: pianotech@ptg.org <pianotech@ptg.org>
Date: Monday, November 02, 1998 3:28 PM
Subject: wood filler


>List, esp refinishers;
>  Aprox. 6 mos ago I tried some water based wood filler and it worked very
>well. As I read the filler ingredients I noticed that a very large
percentage
>of the filler was gypsum...the same stuff used in 'wallboard joint
compound'.
>I found that very interesting and thought provoking....I know weird :-)
>
>  Anyway, I had an old bottom panel from an upright and thought I would
>experiment. I stripped the panel and did all the needed repairs as if a
normal
>refinishing.  I then divided the panel in half with masking tape, half to
be a
>natural finish and half to be  ebony.   I stained some regular walljoint
>compound to a matching color for the natural side and filed the grain.  On
the
>ebony side I just used the plain joint compound straight from the bucket.
>  After waiting for the compound to dry I sanded both sides and finished as
>normal.  The compound intially soaked up the sanding sealer faster than the
>wood but on the second and third coats I could tell no difference. After
>finishing all sanding and spray coats I put the piece aside and just took
it
>down this morning and rubbed the top coats...........the result is a very
>smoooooth finsh with none of the "normal" slight grain indentations we
>normally expect from laquer finishes.
>
>   Any thoughts as to the efficacy of using wall joint compound in this
>manner?
>Positive and negative comments are welcome.
>Jim Bryant (FL)
>