---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment Hi Greg - As you probably know, the two-tone look on the lid is a very common finishing problem due to the half-lid being left folded over for decades and the light fading the colors out (especially the reds) on the exposed back-half of the big lid. Dyes are definitely the best approach, IMO. If the wood is not taking dye appreciably, either you have not fully stripped the surface and you are using water dyes, or your dyes are too diluted to give you much color shift. After you determine which of these problems you have, I recommend using TransTint dyes, which are metallized dyes and will greatly retard the fade problem in the future as they are VERY colorfast. You should be able to blend the colors back fairly even by spraying the dyes heavier, and with more dwell time, on the lighter surfaces. Just get it pretty close, then seal with a thin wash coat ( I like shellac), then use toners to finish the final color matching. This process allows you to "sneak up on it", rather than try to get lucky in one shot. I believe you are in the Cleveland area? Homestead Finishing is in your neck of the woods and has everything you will need, with no minimum order. Call Jeff Jewitt, the owner, for advice on product selection. Mark Potter Greg Newell <gnewell@ameritech.net> wrote: Greetings artisans, I am faced with yet another finishing dilemma that I don't have the experience to solve on my own. I am working on the main lid of a smaller piano where the color seems to get progressively lighter from the point where the half lid folds over to the end of the lid. It does not seem to want to take stain or especially dye. What do I do? I am thinking of applying a filler to level off what may have been lost from the stripping process. What filler should I use and where is a good place to get it. Is it common to put on stain and filler in one process? I have used a very dark filler in the past but I was working for someone else at the time and have no idea what product it was or where it was obtained. Hints? I hate finishing but I think it's mostly because I'm just not very comfortable with it yet. I know there is a learning curve but i'd rather it wasn't at my customer's expense. ANY hints will be gratefully received! Thanks!! Greg Newell Greg's piano Forté mailto:gnewell@ameritech.net Wasn't there a list just for finishing topics? _______________________________________________ pianotech list info: https://www.moypiano.com/resources/#archives ---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: https://www.moypiano.com/ptg/pianotech.php/attachments/c7/be/97/7a/attachment.htm ---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment--
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