Plastic Lakk

[Farrell]

Richard, when you say "shock", do you mean like a blow with a hammer or
dropping, etc.? If so, I suspect you may be looking at a potential
combination of factors that you will be unlikely to distinguish among. I
agree fully with what Paul McCloud wrote. Assuming there was some cold
storage involved, perhaps the cold temps. alone, or combined with moving
into a warm interior environment might be enough to make it crack, but also,
when the piano was real cold, it would also be more susceptible to damage
from a "shock" - as in being hit or bumped.

I agree with Newton also. I see he also uses the term "shock" damage.
Exactly what do you mean by "shock" damage. From a bump? Or something like
"cold shock" - going from one temperature extreme to another.

Also, like Newton said, if the poly is attached firmly to the wood, you can
enlarge the cracks and fill with epoxy (I have only used West System - it is
great for this - with an appropriate filler), level, sand, etc. But you are
basically talking about fairing the poly with epoxy and then refinishing
with your choice of topcoats (this I have done in many marine applications,
but have not done to pianos - same stuff though).  Polyester and/or epoxy
both make an excellent base surface to put any kind of painted finish on -
polyester, lacquer, polyurethane, marine coatings, house paint, water
colors, or just spray a little grey primer over the repaired areas, sand
lightly, and it can look just like my '62 Dodge Dart I had in high school!

Terry Farrell
Piano Tuning & Service
Tampa, Florida
mfarrel2@tampabay.rr.com

----- Original Message -----
From: "Richard Brekne" <Richard.Brekne@grieg.uib.no>
To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: Thursday, March 15, 2001 3:05 AM
Subject: Re: Plastic Lakk


> So do you share the opinions of many of the others so far that this is
> probaby not due to shock, but rather to cold storage / poor transportation
> proceedures ?
>
> Paul McCloud wrote:
>
> > I do a lot of polyester work, and this sounds like poly.  I seriously
> > doubt if the damage could be repaired, assuming that it is indeed poly.
> > There is no way to amalgamate polyester that is cured.  I have had very
> > limited success using super glue dripped into cracks, most often it
> > doesn't wick into the cracks.
> >     There is a company in Orange County, Esquire Piano that claims they
> > can do an invisible polyester repair.  Some day I'll get up there and
> > see if this really can be done without refinishing.  If there's anybody
> > who can do CLEAR polyester repair of cracks over wood grain, invisibly,
> > without stripping, I'd like to know how you do it.
> > Thanks
> >     Paul McCloud
> >     San Diego
> >
> > --
> > mailto:pmc333@earthlink.net
>
> --
> Richard Brekne
> RPT, N.P.T.F.
> Bergen, Norway
> mailto:Richard.Brekne@grieg.uib.no
>
>
>