Finishing questions

[D.L. Bullock]

It sounds like your wood is not yet free of finish.  If it is, it must be
really hard wood to not take stain.  It also may have silicone or oil in the
wood.  Try a degreaser or wash it with TSP Trisodium Phosphate in water.

There are two kinds of filler and two uses for them.  If you need to fill
voids you may use Rock Hard or Bondo or whatever.

This filler I will tell you about below is not to fill missing spots.  It is
to speed up pore filling once you start to apply finish.

The colored wood fillers are available from Constantine's

Go to:
http://216.105.59.114/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=161

It is a good price,  I buy the gallon.  It is in several popular colors and

IT lasts forever when you remove using my method.  Once it is dry take it
off with a credit card or a single sided razor blade.  Save all shavings
removed and put them back into the can and stir them in. You will need to
thin it every so often with Naptha for fast drying.  Before I use this I do
a thinned wash coat of orange shellac to keep the paste color from staining
the wood.  The black filler down in the pores really brings out the grain of
oak or mahogany.  If that is too dark check out the other colors.

D.L. Bullock    St. Louis
www.thepianoworld.com <http://www.thepianoworld.com>

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-----Original Message-----
From: Greg Newell [mailto:gnewell@ameritech.net]
Sent: Wednesday, February 16, 2005 9:17 PM
To: pianotech@ptg.org
Subject: Finishing questions


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?