[pianotech] How to remove scratches

[Douglas Gregg]

Gregor,
It is strange that the German Konig site does not advertise Special
French Polish. I checked my bottle and it is imported. The phone
number in Europe is +49 (0) 61 01 - 53 60 0.

You should be able to get the Special French Polish in Europe. The
method is much simpler than traditional French Polish as a lubricant
is included in the shellac so that it is only one step. Make a pad
with a ball of wool or gauze and wrap it very tightly with a 20 cm
square of well washed old Tee shirt that is stretchy. I use a golf
ball sized pad or smaller. There should be no creases or folds in the
application surface. On a new pad, first open the cover cloth and wet
the gauze well with Konig French polish but not so that it will drip
when squeezed hard. Put the cover back on and put about 10 more drops
on the stretched surface of the pad. The pad should be just damp
enough so that when you tap it on the back of your hand, it is just
damp.  Keep it stretched by twisting the remaining cloth on the back
of the pad and hold onto the twisted part. Practice on a scrap piece
of a  finished piece of wood like an upright piano top or key cover or
other furniture piece. It should be at least 20 cm square.  Start by
coming down on the wood from a low angle without stopping- Like
landing and airplane.  The application should be in a circular motion
that is fairly rapid. You can make overlapping circles and move around
until the whole piece is finished. The pad will leave a slight trail
on the finished area. This is drying shellac that should be drying
almost instantly. You will have to replenish the pad with about 10
drops of polish every few minutes. Watch for the trail of drying
shellac. When it does not leave a trail, replenish. You can work a
piece with several applications on the same area before it starts to
get a bit sticky. This may take up to 30 minutes of polishing. You may
be done before that happens.  If it gets sticky, let it dry for about
30 minutes and resume polishing.  When you have polished it
sufficiently, take some long swipes with the grain to remove any swirl
marks. These should be minimal. Let it dry and you are done. It can be
waxed or not the next day.  This is a very brief description. I have a
video but have not put it on the web yet for lack of time and
knowledge of the process to post it. It is on my to do list.

 I am sorry that there is not one on the web. I have looked and have
not found a decent one.  Konig does sell a rather good video on this
and other techniques that is well worth buying. It also tells how to
do scratch and dent repair with Konig hard wax and retouching with
their markers and other techniques. I have been doing this kind of
work for years and learned some good techniques from their video. Good
luck. Be sure to practice on one or two pieces first. It does not take
long to learn, even on your own.

Doug Gregg
Classic Piano Doc
www.classicpianodoc.com



Message: 3
Date: Sat, 26 Jan 2013 11:15:26 +0100
From: Gregor _ <karlkaputt at hotmail.com>
To: "pianotech at ptg.org" <pianotech at ptg.org>
Subject: Re: [pianotech] How to remove scratches
Message-ID: <DUB104-W22898FC8B35B3E8EB74575D41A0 at phx.gbl>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"


Doug, that?s interesting. I found the USA website of K?nig and found
French Polish. But on the German Site there is no Schellack or French
Polish. I attented a class at K?nig about scratch repair with the
focus on Polyester, but all other surfaces were tought as well. I
don?t remember that they offer French Polish in Germany.

How do you use the French Polish? As a quick and dirty method just
applying with a bale or do you prepare the surface? What would you do
with the fallboard example form Michael?

Gregor

------------------------
piano technician - tuner - dealer
M?nster, Germany
www.weldert.de


> Date: Fri, 25 Jan 2013 11:36:20 -0500
> From: classicpianodoc at gmail.com
> To: pianotech at ptg.org
> Subject: [pianotech]  How to remove scratches
>
> Michael,
> I repair such scratches all the time with French polishing. I gave a
> seminar on it in Seattle. It is quite easy to do. It works so well for
> this kind of thing because it only adds a thin layer of shellac and
> there is no risk as there is with sanding and polishing. The beauty of
> French polishing is it fills the scratches selectively without
> building up finish on the non-scratched area. That is, it fills the
> valleys up to the top of the hills leaving a glass-smooth surface. It
> is also very safe and I often do it in the clients music room over an
> Oriental carpet with no concern of odor or spills or overspray. I use
> Konig Special French polish from www.konignorthamerica.com. Or google
> Konig french polish. They also have videos.
>
> The alternate quick and dirty solution is to spray the fall board with
> several coats of clear lacquer. Then fine sand and polish the new
> lacquer without the danger of damaging the black underneath. I find
> that polishing lacquer to a high polish is not that easy. I would sand
> it with 400 and then 600 paper with water, dry, and then give a final
> coat of spray that lays down flat. Do that outside if possible. The
> fumes are strong.  French polish still comes out better and is three
> times as fast. There is no waiting for lacquer to dry and no sanding.
>
> See my web site to see French polishing before, during, and after.
>  www.classicpianodoc.com
>
> Doug Gregg
> Classic piano Doc
> Southold, NY
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Thu, 24 Jan 2013 17:00:01 -0800 (PST)
> From: MICHAEL MEZHINSKY <pghpianotuning at yahoo.com>
> To: "pianotech at ptg.or" <pianotech at ptg.org>
> Subject: [pianotech] How to remove scratches
> Message-ID:
>         <1359075601.24779.YahooMailNeo at web160205.mail.bf1.yahoo.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
>
> Hello,
> Can anyone suggest how?to remove scratches on the black lacquer finish
> fall board on a 1932 piano or make it look better?
> The picture is attached.
> Thanks for your help.
> Michael Mezhinsky RPT