Rob, I have had the pleasure of receiving several ivory keyboards painted white over the years and yes, have been asked to restore them. It has been my experience that the paint is hiding something, either cracked ivory, discolored etc.. The only thing you can do is lightly sand off the paint and buff. This will take you more time than most clients are willing to pay for, and unless the client painted the keys themselves, no one will know what is under the paint until several hours of labor have been exhausted. Good luck. Mike Michael A. Morvan Blackstone Valley Piano Dedicated To Advancing The Art Of Keyboard Restoration 76 Sutton Street Uxbridge, Ma. 01569 (508) 278-9762 Keymaestro at verizon.net www.pianoandorgankeys.com www.thepianorebuilders.com ----- Original Message ----- From: "Rob Mitchell" <tpa2sfr at pacbell.net> To: <pianotech at ptg.org> Sent: Wednesday, November 21, 2007 12:47 PM Subject: Another Ivory Key Tops Question >A client of mine has a 1903 Waters upright. The ivories are in pretty good > shape except that they appear to have been "painted". In the middle > octaves, the coating has been partially worn away through playing. But > towards the ends the paint is largely intact. The paint can be scraped > off, > but it would take a fair amount of work to clean up the entire set. > > Is this painting normal practice? Is there an easy way to clean things > up? > > Rob > > Mitchell Piano Service > www.mitchellpianoservice.com > (415) 994-1030 > > >
This PTG archive page provided courtesy of Moy Piano Service, LLC