Kurt, There's one spray can that works well: Krylon SEMI-FLAT Black #1613. Wash the keys thoroughly with lacquer thinner and or denatured alcohol (pour a little in a small container and dip either paper towels a small rag, or if they are really gunked up 0000 steel wool) let them dry and spray away. I've done dozens of sets of keys like this and never had a problem with crazing/cracking. Don't forget good ventilation and an appropriate respirator. The semi flat finish looks great, is easy to apply, and very durable. Of course if the wood is really ebony you could chose to just clean and clear coat them. A wipe on polyurethane is easy to apply. On the other hand if they are badly chewed up, nothing will make them look good; replace them. Hope this helps. Bill Costanzo _____ From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of kurt baxter Sent: Friday, December 05, 2008 11:28 PM To: Pianotech List Subject: [pianotech] Refinishing ebony sharps? Ok, what are my options to re-black worn ebony sharps? I have only attempted this myself once, and the stuff I used (some sort of spray black lacquer I think) did this really horrible crazing/cracking thing as it dried. A refinisher friend told me it was a result of the lacquer reacting with the finger oils that had soaked into the parts that were worn down to bare wood. She ended up having to aggressively strip all the old black off and start new. Is there any way to avoid this? Can I make then look better (if not perfect) without stripping them? [kurt] -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/pianotech_ptg.org/attachments/20081206/5620d69e/attachment.html>
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