[pianotech] Collodion vs Lacquer for hammer hardening

Marcel Carey mcpianos at hotmail.com
Sun Dec 7 15:19:31 PST 2008


Hi Jurgen,I use collodion and I find I like the tone it produces better than laquer. As for sources, I found mine in the drugstore in the first aid dept. It's also called liquid bandaid. I haven't got ether yet and I use acetone to thin it. I use about 1 part collodion for 5 parts acetone. I think humbly that it does not harden as much as the keytop dissoved in acetone. Now I'm no chemist, but I find there is less "ping" on the attack which I find preferable. In other words, the hammers don't get as hard as glass and I find it easy to voice down if I went too far.Marcel CareySherbrooke, QC






In Europe, one traditional hammer hardening solution is collodion.

My question: What is the difference between collodion and nitrocellulose lacquer?

According to encyclopedias, collodion is solution of pyroxylin in ether and alcohol.  Pyroxylin is apparently the term for partially nitrated cellulose.  I read in one source that  Pyroxylin can be used to make lacquer by dissolving it in volatile solvents.  To me that sounds like making collodion.

Are collodion and lacquer interchangeable?

Are there any chemists or lacquer experts on the list?
Does anyone in North America use collodion?  Experiences? Sources?

Jurgen Goering
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