refinishing problem

[Terry Neely]

Sounds like symptoms of silicone polishes or waxes. Silicone travels extensively
and can even remain after conventional stripping methods. A lot of piano owners
will only polish the top of the piano, hence your problem only with the lid. I
have had some success with covering the surface with cloth (old T shirts) and
soaking the cloth with stripper. when the cloths are removed, so is the finish
and some of the silicone. It may take multiple treatments to be effective. We
have no known solvent for silicone.
Good luck.

jim krentzel wrote:

> List,
> I've refinished pianos for over 15 years, but a grand that I'm working on
> now has me stumped.  The entire piano has refinished just fine with the
> exception of the large lid.  After the second series of sealer coats, the
> finish develops small bubbles.  The bubbles feel like bumps about the size
> of a pin head, but after wet-sanding, they are small craters, so I know they
> were actually bubbles in the finish.  After the first time this happened, I
> stripped the lid again and started over.  I had the normal amount of
> fish-eye on the lid, but it went away after the first 4 coats of sealer
> (with fish-eye eliminator) were wet-sanded flat.  Then after the 4th added
> sealer coat, the bubbles appeared.  I'd appreciate any suggestions.
> Jim Krentzel