[CAUT] lacquer "flushing"

[Erwinspiano@aol.com]

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In a message dated 8/25/2004 8:36:08 PM Pacific Standard Time,  
awright440@cinci.rr.com writes:
    Allan
  I've used this technique commonly & it is a legitimate and  effective tool. 
Use Samples first before wholesale application Allan.   Douse a few & wait 
The adjust. It only takes an hour & a half before the  lacquer is dry enough 
(90%) to test you application in the bass. I learned that  the hard way too. It's 
a great tool. Baldwin hammers of most vintages are  notoriously lousy so be 
careful
    Dale
 
 
Colleagues,

I'm not certain this ideahas been discussed on the  list, but I seem to 
remember that it has, else it might not have occurred to  me as a 
serious option. I pass it on in case it might be useful for others  in a 
similar situation.

I voiced a 7 year old Baldwin L for a store.  A church was interested in 
buying it, but wanted it voiced up - particularly  the entire bass 
section, which was very noticeably quieter and with a  different tone 
than the rest.

Some light keytop solution on some  notes brought up the treble end 
nicely to match the middle, but I felt that  the bass needed a bigger 
boost, so in the shop I gave it a 4 : 1 hit with  lacquer. The majority 
of my lacquering experience has been with Steinways  (lots of them), and 
this 4 : 1 solution probably would've been about perfect  for that. But 
I'm steadily realizing that Baldwin hammers react more testily  to 
hardeners. The bass was way louder than I intended when I got it back  
in. Mild panic set in, as needling obviously wasn't curing the  problem.

I thought about steaming, or perhaps using the Pianotek hammer  
softener, but didn't have either in the car. So I decided to try  
flushing out some of the lacquer with acetone. On with the fume mask 
and  out to the back porch with a nice breeze blowing: I forcefully 
squirted a  good half bottle of acetone down onto each hammer, with the 
overflow going  through my funnel into another bottle.

When they dried, I could feel that  they were obviously softer. When I 
put the action back in the piano the next  day the tone was right where 
I had intended it to be, with the bass perhaps  even slightly softer 
than the mid-section now.

I imagine the lacquer  in the strike point area tends to be flushed down 
into the shoulders, with  more remaining there than in the top. Which is 
probably not a bad  scenario.

It had been an act of skeptical semi-desperation, but it worked  
perfectly. The phrase "snatching victory from the jaws of defeat" ran  
through my head as I drove home in great relief.

Oh, and the bottle  of acetone I used is now slightly yellow with the 
lacquer that it pulled  out. It's probably more like the ratio I should 
have used to start with!  I'll save it for some future job involving a 
light hardener  solution.

For what it's worth,

Allen Wright, RPT
NKU, Xavier  University
Cincinnati





Erwins Pianos  Restorations 
4721 Parker Rd.
Modesto, Ca 95357
209-577-8397
Rebuilt  Steinway , Mason &Hamlin  Sales
www.Erwinspiano.com

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