Piano Refinishing

[Brian Trout]

Hi Jim,

I want to thank you for your well thought out
post and your thoughtful demeanor as well.

I don't necessarily agree with the premise that
refinishing information is so readily available,
especially as it pertains to PIANO refinishing. 
You are right in that there are many ways to
refinish, but when people start to describe PIANO
finishes, the information base seems to get MUCH
smaller very fast.

In the general refinishing community, things such
as the nuances of grain filling (for a smooth
<filled grain> finish), rubbing for that
'Steinway satin' look, and things more peculiar
to piano work are not so available or widely well
understood, at least not that I've found.

I would also admit that different parts of the
country may very well have better or worse access
to refinishing professionals, much as they may or
may not have good access to (for instance) a good
store for woodworking tools.  

(Let's put it this way,... in Lancaster County
Pennsylvania, I had my choice of 4 or 5
woodworker's supply stores having some TOP
quality stuff within an hour's drive.  In
Slidell, Louisiana, if it's not available at Ace
Hardware or Home Depot, forget it, it's not
available here... and yes, I do mail order...)

I believe that a series of articles on PIANO
refinishing may be of interest to many
technicians who may not normally do full
refinishing but perhaps have to refinish a
soundboard or a lid or a bench top for whatever
reason.  Understanding how a finish is
'constructed' might go a long way in repairing
it, much as knowing how a bridge or a soundboard
is constructed might be helpful in repairing it
even if you never replace such.  (clear as mud?)
And of course, for those who do refinish as a
part of rebuilding, I know it would be of
interest to those people.  Just as there are
different ways to replace a set of key buttons,
an article about such might just give people who
do that some new ideas of how to make what
they're doing better, easier, and/or faster.

To my way of thinking, a piano technician is much
more than just a guy who can run a tuning hammer.
 Shouldn't the education of a piano technician
include every part of the piano, from beginning
to end?  I could try to be ridiculous and say
something like, "Well, we don't want to see a
series of articles on plate construction since
most technicians never do anything to a plate." 
Ahh, but...  I can think of at least a dozen
members of this list who would LOVE to see how
capo bars can be reshaped or hardened or laid out
to better fit a particular piano design.  

My point is that just because you're not
interested, or I'm not interested, doesn't mean
that no one is interested or that it's not
important or significant.  I don't normally make
it a point to complain about tuning articles in
the Journal that are of no interest and of no use
whatsoever to me.  It would seem to be a
dis-service not to have room for the "allied
trades".  But then again, the "Allied Tradesmen"
isn't really a part of the PTG anymore either. 
Hmmm...  (Yikes, I think I just opened up another
can of worms...)

Just an alternate perspective.  No offense
intended.

Best wishes,

Brian T.


=====
Brian Trout
Grand Restorations
3090 Gause Blvd., #202
Slidell, LA  70461
985-649-2700
GrandRestorations@yahoo.com

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Yahoo! - Official partner of 2002 FIFA World Cup
http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com