[pianotech] refinishing a plate

John Delacour JD at Pianomaker.co.uk
Thu Feb 25 15:27:37 MST 2010


At 12:14 -0500 25/2/10, Jon Page wrote:

>For plate lettering I use a fluid writing pen and water-based acrylic black,
>india ink would work well too.

Even better is Chinese ink, hand ground, used with a Chinese writing 
brush.  You can buy the ink (which is a solid block) and a cheap 
stone to grind it wherever there is a Chinese community.  If you 
grind it to the consistency of a thickish cream it will adhere even 
to a high gloss surface.  Most Indian ink is too dilute and will not 
hold.

The advantage of a water-based ink is that you can easily wipe it off 
to make corrections while the ink is still wet.  When it is dry fix 
it with a light coat of lacquer.

JD



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