Piano Finishes

[Glenn Grafton]

>Well, here I sit boxed into refinishing (or making ill-fated attempts to) a
>piano again. I am stuck on waterbase. I am eyeing OXFORD PREMIUM SPRAY
>LACQUER (1000 Series) water-base finish by Target Coatings. Has anyone tried
>it? Two features it claims attracts my interest: 100% burn in, so no
>"witness lines" when flat-sanding final coat and ease of
>flat-sanding/polishing - the big one being 100% burn-in. That is where I
>have had problems in the past. Anyone????????
>
>I haven't even started yet, and the desperation & out-of-control feeling is
>already setting in :-(.

Why are you attempting the refinishing if that's not your particular skill.
Your posting does not say whether or not this is your first attempt or not
at refinishing.

We have a super piano tech here at the store and I saw his personnal piano
that he refinished himself. The refinishing did not at all match the
calibre of work he did on the rest of the piano. Most of the pianos we do
he handles the rebuilding end and another in our guy shop  does the
refinishing.

Maybe you would be better off getting a piano finisher to do the finishing.
One of the things one has to come to grips with to be sucessful is what is
that you do well and stick to that. There are a number of steps involved in
doing a top notch refinishing job-stripping, veneer and wood repair,
sanding, staining, filling of the wood grain, burn-ins, toning to match
various shades, sanding sealer, top coating, final sanding and rubbing out
the finish. You can get all the supplies and equipment, but just like
tuning pianos or building a house, having the tools and equipment is only
part of the equation.

If it's something that you're doing as a personnal project and want to see
what you can do that's one thing. If it's for a client that you're
rebuilding their piano for that's another. You may not want to have the
customer have to settle with the results of the learning curve.

Glenn Grafton
Grafton Piano & Organ Co.
Souderton PA
http://www.graftonpiano.com/
glenn@graftonpiano.com
800-272-5980

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