Hi Greg, I scrape carefully with even pressure only removing the finish and not digging into the wood at all. If the stain is uneven (as is the case with a sun damaged piano in my shop now) I bleach the case. Rob ----- Original Message ----- From: "Greg Newell" <gnewell@ameritech.net> To: "Pianotech" <pianotech@ptg.org> Sent: Wednesday, April 27, 2005 8:38 AM Subject: Re: refinishing frustrations > Rob, > I'm worried about the same issue with scraping that I am with > sanding. How do you prevent going through in spots and what are you doing > to even out the color? Are you using the color exactly as it is under the > old finish or darker? This is exactly what I am struggling with. Seems the > old color underneath the clear coat is quite dark indeed. Almost black! > > best, > Greg > > > > At 06:08 AM 4/27/2005, you wrote: > >Hi Greg, > > > >Another option is to scrape as much old finish off as possible to avoid > >working with stripper, nasty stuff, and only bleach when there is color > >variation that needs to be evened out. > > > >Rob E. > >----- Original Message ----- > >From: <mailto:bases-loaded76@sbcglobal.net>Mark Potter > >To: <mailto:pianotech@ptg.org>Pianotech > >Sent: Wednesday, April 27, 2005 5:47 AM > >Subject: Re: refinishing frustrations > > > >Hi Greg - > > > >When you say the wood seems to end up darker than you would like when you > >try to even out the color are you referring to evening out the color from > >one piece to the next (i.e. - making the legs the same color as the > >fallboard), or evening out some color 'blotchiness' you may encounter on > >an individual piece? If you are referring to blotchiness, I would say you > >are inflicting this on yourself in the stripping process by being more > >aggressive in some areas than in others in either scrubbing or sanding. > >In my experience, if you just let the stripper remove the finish to the > >point where a putty knife will easily scrape it off, that avoids pitfall # > >1 - scrubbing real hard in stubborn places to remove finish still > >adhering. Then if you lightly scrub/rinse WITH THE SAME EVEN PRESSURE > >THRUOUT using either a water/alcohol, lacquer thinner, or TSP rinse (or > >combination of all 3)with #1 steel wool or maroon scotchbrite pad, you > >should have all pieces stripped clean, free of any blotchiness. I am not > >a big fan of inflicting further aggression on the wood after achieving > >this state other than a light sanding with 150 - 220. My personal opinion > >is that bleaching robs the wood - especially mahogany - of some depth that > >is not retrievable. Just my opinion, FWIW. Nor have I found it necessary > >or desirable to go after the old filler with scrub brushes, but to each > >his own. > > > >As far as keeping the color as light as possible, I will generally pick > >the darkest piece of the lot, and only dye as necessary to get the rest of > >the pieces to that shade. I would consider this then to be the lightest > >this wood wants to be. I prefer to take what the wood is giving me and > >work with it, rather than to impose a completely different color regimen > >that is much lighter in tone and requires bleaching to get there. Seems > >to me this is like "askin' for a fight".... ;-) > > > >I will say that of the three common liquids I use for cleaning after > >stripping - alcohol, lacquer thinner, TSP - the TSP removes the most > >color. FWIW. > > > >Mark Potter > > > >Greg Newell <gnewell@ameritech.net> wrote: > >list, > >I wonder if you all (as many opinions as I can get) would > >enlighten me on what you do in the stripping process. I'm specifically > >interested in everything that comes before repairs and coloring etc. > >Perhaps more to the point is whether or not you are seeking to make the > >wood as bare as possible i.e. devoid of any color, or are you simply > >removing topcoat, then repairing, even out color and re-topcoat? It seems > >that my attempts seem to bring the finished product darker than I would > >like by attempting to make everything the same color. I have only removed > >finish in the past but am contemplating bleaching. Is this necessary in > >order to get the lighter colors I'm after? Would you be kind enough to > >describe exactly the steps and materials and tools you use in the stripping > >process? Thanks in advance. > > > >Greg Newell > >Greg's ! piano Forté > >mailto:gnewell@ameritech.net > > > > > >_______________________________________________ > >pianotech list info: https://www.moypiano.com/resources/#archives > > Greg Newell > Greg's piano Forté > mailto:gnewell@ameritech.net > > > _______________________________________________ > pianotech list info: https://www.moypiano.com/resources/#archives
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