Black filler warning, again.

[gordon stelter]

   I just spent 50 hours, and $350 in materials,
getting the black pigment out of the grain of a 
mahogany Steinway lid, so it was uniform enough for
new finish. The previous "refinisher" did a  lot of
noxious things, like sanding across the grain with
coarse paper, sanding through veneer at the corners,
etc.. But the most noxious thing he did was use black
paste wood grain filler, directly on the wood. ( No
sealer coat. ) If you like destroying veneer, that's
the way to go!
     If you like to treat the customer's piano with
respect, spray a  
very thin coat of sanding sealer over the sanded and
stained wood, then use a filler of dark brown ( dark
walnut works well ). This way you will put the
pigmented filler into the pores ( not the wood
surounding the pores ) and not overwhelm the veneer
with black pigment, which is far too intense, IMHO. (
But you'll still get nice contrast. ) 
     I will be sending a  copy of Flexner's latest
book on wood finishing to one of the supply companies,
soon, in hopes they will; carry it. Best book I've
ever seen, by a mile!  
     Peace,
     Thump

--- A440A at aol.com wrote:

> 
> <<  I would like to know when you do and do not
> charge for service
> calls.  Tunings?  Repairs?  Returning to pull a new
> string up to pitch?  I
> know a tech who starts charging by the hour as soon
> as he gets in his car.
> What works for you and your clients? >>
> 
> Greetings, 
>    This pricing business depends on the individual's
> reputation more than 
> anything else.  The longer a self-employed person is
> in business, the more they 
> know, (or should).  Thus, their time is more
> valuable than the beginner.  The 
> longer they have been doing quality work, the
> stronger their reputation, the 
> more trusted they are, the more they are worth to
> discriminating customers.  
> That being said, I submit we all owe it to ourselves
> to make our time as valuable 
> as possible.  That is why we stand the expense of
> conventions, seminars, etc. 
>  
>     Even though my prices for private customers are
> high, I can easily 
> justify a somewhat reduced rate at the University
> because I do so much work over 
> there on my own schedule, and the credibility of
> being associated with the school 
> makes it easy for me to have a continuing supply of
> customers elsewhere. I 
> don't spend a penny on advertising and I have more
> work coming at me than I can 
> do.   I also find myself retuning the same stage
> pianos several times a week 
> and I charge a regular tuning fee every time I hit
> the stage, even though it is 
> often that it takes far less time to leave the piano
> in tune on successive 
> visits.  
>   The recording studios are usually looking for
> "competitively" priced 
> tuners, so I was glad to finally price myself out of
> that end of the business.  
>    I charge from the time I leave my shop until the
> work is done. This 
> effectively makes my travel time pay only half as
> much as time on site. If I replace 
> a string in a piano, I charge a regular hourly rate,
> (which isn't much for a 
> string, I admit), and usually will not charge to
> stop by and retune it when I 
> am in the area, again.  It depends on how much of my
> time it takes to do this. 
>  Sometimes, it is only a 5 minute chore and the
> customer relations end of the 
> business is better served to have done it gratis.  
>    
>   Consider that auto mechanics can average $ 75-90
> per hour, plumbers often 
> charge $ 80 per hour, electricians that or more, and
> copier technicians average 
> about $ 150 per hour.  How many copiers cost as much
> as a grand piano? 
>      A tuning visit that takes 90 minutes and pays
> $135 means that after 
> local taxes (10%) you have $ 122. Then overhead
> (that phone you use, the car and 
> its expenses, cost of tools, etc), takes another 10%
> so you then have $ 110.  
> Uncle Sam and FICA are going to take 30% of that, so
> you may end up with $ 75 
> for that job.  Say you do four of these a day, five
> days a week, you are taking 
> home $ 1500 per week.  That is a heavy tuning load
> and after a number of 
> years, you will probably need medical expenses.   
>    A good rule of thumb is that if you are booked
> months in advance, you are 
> not charging enough, and if the phone is not ringing
> at all, you are charging 
> too much for your reputation to support.  The fear
> of losing customers because 
> you are charging too much will cost you far more in
> the long run than the 
> actual loss of a few customers.  If nobody is
> complaining or questioning your 
> price, you are not charging enough, because there
> are customers out there that 
> will complain about any price!
>  
> Ed Foote RPT 
> http://www.uk-piano.org/edfoote/index.html
> www.uk-piano.org/edfoote/well_tempered_piano.html
>  
> 



 
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