At 17:28 -0500 12/7/10, Mike Spalding wrote: >Just out of curiosity, what's so nasty about pearwood? On many old pianos that used it the veneer breaks up under the french polish and any lacquer used to refinish it will crack up after a little while. The only thing that will stabilize it is polyester. I don't know what it is/was like when it was new but it seems that with time it turns very brittle and crumbly. It also has a foul smell, either in itself or owing to its combination with the stain. Many old Bechsteins use this veneer. A colleague of mine recently had a Bechstein grand top crack up like this when he had done a good french polishing job on the top. I suggested he strip it, paint it with liquid polyester resin, cut down and re-polish. I had never done this myself, but he reported a success. JD
This PTG archive page provided courtesy of Moy Piano Service, LLC