Hi Terry, I recently had to make a similar repair for Yamaha, although I did not do the scratching. They provided the touch up color from parts ,3 different tubes, dept at Buena Park which had to be mixed to match on site. The really important thing to know here is that you have to mask off the strings, dampers etc with cardboard and masking tape and spray the entire horizontal or vertical surface otherwise you will leave an equally unsightly line. Brushing would leave even worse. Any slight variation in color match, and there will be some slight at best, is dispelled visually by natural light and shadows. So do the plane the damage is in entirely with a light coat, maybe two light ones depending on the depth of the damage. If you don't normally spray find someone who does ( of course there is the matter of having an airbrush in the first place) and take him with you. If you have to buy equipment test it in the shop first to acquire a smooth application technique. Best of luck. Chris Solliday. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Terry Beckingham" <beckt@mts.net> To: "Caut" <caut@ptg.org>; "Pianotech" <pianotech@ptg.org> Sent: Tuesday, December 14, 2004 6:40 PM Subject: [CAUT] Scratched Yamaha CFIII Plate > Hello everyone, > > Ron Giesbrecht of Yamaha Canada suggested I share with you my experience > regarding scratching the plate on a Yamaha CFIII. I am copying my email and > his reply below, just in case anyone is interested. I won't see the piano > again until the spring, so don't bother asking me what action I took. I'll > let you know in the spring. > > Regards > > Terry Beckingham RPT > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------- > Hi Ron, > > Can you tell me if there is touch up paint available for Yamaha plates? > > I tuned a CFIII (sn 4635400) on Saturday. I used the little clamp that > Spurlock sells to hold the PRCT on the plate strut. Unknown to me, the > rubber cushion on the adjustable screw had fallen off. I put a couple of > small smiley faces on the treble side of both struts. The owner isn't > really happy about it and asked if I could get some touch up paint for it. > (I didn't charge for the tuning). > > Regards > > Terry Beckingham RPT > > Hi Terry, > > Ouch.... Sounds like this is an experience that needs sharing. I asked > Dwight Pile who has the most experience of anyone of my consultants for an > opinion, and so I'm attaching his response and more of my comments at the > end. By the way he also has a PRCT and fabricated his own holder.... > > From: Dwight Pile > Sent: Tuesday, December 14, 2004 8:08 AM > To: Ron Giesbrecht > Subject: RE: FW: Plate Touch up Paint > > Hi Ron. Sad to say that the plate paint is a real problem. I don't have a > way of matching the colour in such a way as to eliminate the damage. Even > Pride Restoration finds plate finishes like those found on Yamahas to be > extremely difficult to repair. Part of this is due to the mild metallic > content of the paint, part is the sheen, part is the undercoat, and part is > the type of paint used. At best, and with a whole bunch of different golds > to work with, I've been able to achieve moderate success only when I've > repaired and re-sprayed an entire section of plate. Even then there is a > transition line between old and new finish. I don't know where Terry is, > but my advice to him would be to get the best autobody painter he can find, > beg him to do the repair with an airbrush, and hope that it costs him less > than a couple of days of tuning. > It would also be an idea for Terry to post his tale far and wide so that > others don't share a similar fate. Plate finishes like those found on > Yamaha pianos and others are based on a filler coat over the cast iron > which by its nature is soft and has some depth. As a result, damage tends > to be a bit of a headache. It is not a finish that is intended to have > anything stuck or clamped to it-despite what audio engineers believe is > their gaffer tape given right! > Interestingly, Spurlock's original Ipaq holder was an 'on the tuning pin' > type, which is where I got the idea for mine. The clamp version is the > 'improved' model. > With not much help, but lots of sympathy, > Dwight Pile > Technical Consultant, Piano Division > Yamaha Canada Music > 135 Milner Ave > Scarborough, ON M1S 3R1 > 416.298.1311 x 2402 > > > RonG: > So as I see it, Terry, you have several options which I've listed below. > The first is cheapest and would be acceptable in most situations. The > second is not recommended because of cost and risk of failure, and the > third is not cheap and probably has the best chance of success. > Understanding that minor paint chipping of plate paint during servicing is > almost inevitable over the life of any piano (not to suggest careless tool > handling is OK), I hope your customer is understanding and allows the first > option. > > > (1) Take pictures of the plate paint which are an accurate color match... > probably with and without flash. (Or take out one of the plate screws as in > (3)). Go to hobby and hardware stores and buy an assortment of small > quantities of close matching paints... i.e. like the type for making > models. Experiment (before getting back to the customer) with different > ways of applying the paint... i.e. multiple thin applications, or several > "thick" ones, via brush strokes. If you want to try aerosols definitely > experiment in advance and make sure to mask off the area beside (and the > rest of the piano) and have good ventilation. One of my consultants (Don > Cote in Ottawa) was able to find an off the shelf color that was virtually > an exact match at a hardware store a few years back when he had to deal > with a similar situation. > > (2) Ordering touch-up paint from the factory... this is ridiculously > expensive because paint is flammable and in a flammable / hazardous > products shipping category. Also there is no guarantee of a perfect color > match, since the colors may vary slightly from batch to batch of paint > mixed (and this particular piano was in the factory in 1988). As well, the > spraying process of multiple light coats is important for the final look... > and why spraying a complete section of the plate is sometimes necessary. I > recall ordering a small quantity of factory touch up paint several years > ago which had hardened by the time it got here, so the hundreds of dollars > spent in hazardous / flammable products shipping was wasted. > > (3) Remove one plate screw from the pinblock area (use the right size slot > screwdriver because it's easy to slip and put in another scratch ... it's > no problem for the plate to handle the removal of one plate screw in this > area). Take this to an autobody shop that has the equipment to scan the > color of the paint on the head of the screw to accurately match it and ask > them to mix up a quantity for you. If you want to price this out first of > all, we might be interested in purchasing a quantity from you as we have a > similar vintage concert grand here for some technical work. Although there > probably would be slight coloring differences between that piano and the > one here, it sounds like a closer color match to your customer's piano is > more important than ours... and so it would be best to use that plate's > color for the sample. > > You can let me know how you want to pursue this. > > Good luck! > > Ron Giesbrecht, > Piano Service Manager, > YAMAHA CANADA MUSIC LTD. > 135 Milner Ave., Scarborough, ON., M1S 3R1 > TEL 416-298-1311 ext.2303 > FAX 416-298-1262 > E-mail: rgiesbrecht@yamaha.ca > Web: http://www.yamaha.ca > > > _______________________________________________ > caut list info: https://www.moypiano.com/resources/#archives > >
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