Finishing question

[Frank Weston]

Richard,

If you want to use shellac as a filler and sealer it is possible with a
little work.  I have used either  flakes or  "Bullseye", both with good
results.  Use about a 3#cut or Bullseye straight from the can, brush on
three coats, allowing plenty of time for drying in between coats.  Sand with
220 open coat.  If the surface is still irregular you may try one or more
additional brushed on coats cut down a little more with alcohol.  Sand again
as necessary.   Repeat the whole process as many times as necessary to get
to the level of smoothness you desire. To get the final finish with shellac,
you will have to rub using a "rubber" made of wadded cotton cheese cloth and
a drop or two of raw linseed oil applied very sparingly.  Dip the "rubber"
in shellac and finish up with what is essentially French polishing.  This
process is very similar to the method use to finish all fine pianos before
the introduction of spray lacquer in the 1920's.  Make no mistake.  The
reason lacquer replaced this method is that lacquer is a lot less work.

Frank Weston

-----Original Message-----
From: Richard Moody <remoody@easnet.net>
To: pianotech@ptg.org <pianotech@ptg.org>
Date: Friday, October 08, 1999 1:47 AM
Subject: Re: Finishing question


>Mark,
> Thanks for the info.  I have been using oil over unfilled stripped, sanded
and
>stained wood with mixed results. I finally have gotten the desired sheen by
using
>4-6 coats of oil (tung) instead of 2 or three.  On Mahog,  pores are the
problem.  I
>will try the glue sizing.  since I am trying to keep low tech, spraying is
not
>feasible. However I have heard of "padding"  shellac, or "padding on
shellac". I
>wonder if anyone knows about this? Is it possible to mix shellac with some
kind of
>oil and rub it on like oil? For large areas of course---ric
>
>----------
>> From: bases-loaded@juno.com
>> To: pianotech@ptg.org
>> Subject: Re: Finishing question
>> Date: Thursday, October 07, 1999 7:37 PM
>>
>> Ric -
>>
>> I have glue sized wood before refinishing many times.  I mix app. 8 parts
>> warm water with 1 part hide glue and sponge on the stripped, cleaned, and
>> sanded wood, then wipe off the excess.  Let it dry for a few hours or
>> overnight.  As Charles noted, this raises the grain, is easily sanded
>> smooth, and very little grain raising takes place in subsequent finish
>> layers.  An added benefit is that it takes dyes extremely well, and can
>> be very useful in allowing for an "even" absorption of color.  I have
>> always used shellac as a sealer coat over this, spraying it in 1 lb.
>> cuts, "wash coats", if you will.  I have never experienced any trouble
>> with compatibility of shellac with hide glue.  Shellac, in fact, seems to
>> be compatible with everything, if it has been dewaxed.
>>
>> Mark Potter
>> bases-loaded@juno.com
>>
>> On Wed, 6 Oct 1999 21:43:17 -0500 "Richard Moody" <remoody@easnet.net>
>> writes:
>> ----------
>>   I heard about glue sizing but never knew anyone
>> > to ask about it.
>> > This is on new wood? since it is in the factory.  Was the wood
>> > filled before this
>> > glue sizing was applied? > Was the glue sizing very thin and brushed
>> on?  Was it "old"?   Was
>> > varnish or laquer
>> > applied on this glue sizing?  ---ric
>> >
>>
>