[CAUT] lacquer

[Cramer at BrandonU.CA]

Hi all,

apparently water-white lacquer will also yellow in time, 
however this shows up mainly on the hammer's sides, so for 
me it's become a reasonable whatever.

As for ratios from 3:1 all the way up to 8:1, and 
beyond... where's the science in that? How can we possibly 
discuss ratios when solids contents can double without 
notice!?

(kind of like 10 mm key-dip isn't it? Do you measure with 
a feather or a karate chop?)

Anyhow, thinning (IMHO) is to acheive a consistant and 
specific viscosity (ultimate ratio of solids to thinners, 
no matter the solids of the original product) that will 
penetrate at some idealized rate and leave an ideal 
concentration of solids behind. 

If we honestly see value in that kind of consistancy (and 
I do, though believe the actual "window" to be fairly 
wide), could we not just throw out the potentially 
useless, if not outright misleading discussion of ratios, 
and talk "viscosity" instead?

i.e.: 10 seconds in a Zahns viscosity cup.

What would this solve?

1.) You'd never worry about the "ratio" of some hardener 
you'd mixed up a year ago, you would merely "time" it and 
thin accordingly.

2.) Want more bang? Add lacquer to slow it down by a 
specific percentage (measured in seconds), and document 
your results. Now you have "real science" you can actually 
share.

3.) As for the factory episode Fred relates, the hammer 
guy would've noticed immediately that the "gold standard" 
of felt baptism took "twice as much thinner" to acheive.

He could've either reported this immediately and known the 
cause, or thinned accordingly, minding his own business, 
and achieved continuity throughout the entire process. 

I believe ISO accreditation (registering quality process)
is all about preventing even the possiblity of "the above" 
from occuring. (anyone recall the threads about pre-over-
lacquered replacement hammers several months ago?)

A $6.00 visc. cup then, should be a great investment in 
preventing such a far-reaching manufacturing oversight 
from "re-occuring."    

So where's my visc. cup?  Uh, er, I'm one of those old 
timers who learned to time the drips off the end of a 
screwdriver... and still waiting for ISO approval. ;>)

blissfully yours,
Mark Cramer,
Brandon University


 

 




















  



> Tom,
> 
> Purchasing the one gallon from U.S. Cellulose was not a 
problem last  
> year. I used Parks for many years and indeed it works 
well. The main  
> thing I wanted to get away from was the yellowing. This 
problem was  
> not so bad on some hammers, worst one others. After 
seeing the  
> lacquer Eric Schandall was using in the Steinway classes 
I just had  
> to try the water white nitro. I will stick with it for 
now. Until  
> something better comes along of course. :-)
> 
> Don
> 
> 
> 
> Don McKechnie
> Piano Technician
> Ithaca College
> dmckech at ithaca.edu
> 607-274-3908
> 
> 
> 
> 
> On Jun 16, 2006, at 10:45 PM, caut-request at ptg.org wrote:
> 
> > Hi, Don, and List -
> >
> > Thanks for the WoodWeb link.  That was very helpful 
stuff.
> >
> > I have used materials from US Cellulose to good 
effect, both for  
> > spraying as finish and for voicing.  I recall having 
plenty of  
> > difficulties dealing with them, however: wrong product 
shipped,  
> > slow shipping, very expensive shipping.
> >
> > Additionally, I'll second the support for the Parks 
lacquer  
> > products, for voicing anyway.  (I've not used these 
for  
> > finishing.)  In a pinch I got a quart of the clear 
brushing lacquer  
> > from a small-town Ace Hardware store and have been 
using it with  
> > fine results for some time.  (A quart lasts quite a 
long time for  
> > voicing work!  And I don't think I'd be concerned 
about shelf life  
> > on this stuff.)
> >
> > Best regards,
> >
> > ~ Tom McNeil ~
> > Vermont Piano Restorations
> >
> > 346 Camp Street
> > Barre, VT 05641
> > (802) 476-7072
> 
>