S&S 1098 finish problem...

[Mike Bratcher]

----- Original Message -----
From: "Jay Mercier" <jaymercier@hotmail.com>
To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: Friday, August 02, 2002 11:22 PM
Subject: S&S 1098 finish problem...


> Greetings List,
>
> I serviced a mid '70's Steinway 1098 Vertical today.  Everything went well
> and as I was about to walk out the door the customer asked about finish
> care.  Her Steinway manual states to "use nothing except a lightly
dampened
> cloth to clean the finish."  She was wondering about the thin cracks that
> were appearing.  I told her it was due to many years of prolonged sunlight
> hitting the surface. (the piano sat near a window with direct sunlight
> during the afternoon hours.)  I showed her the other side of the piano
that
> doesn't get the sun, and of course there were no cracks in the finish.  I
> brought a few finish products in from the car and showed them to her - one
> being Cory All Brite.  I told her that I use this and other piano finish
> care products on pianos that could use it, but that her piano would
probably
> need a complete refinish job to remove the cracks.  Out of curiosity I
> applied the All-Brite to a small area on the sun-beaten area of the piano.
> To my horror the finish turned from a walnut gloss (laquer, I think), to a
> walnut satin.  I tried restoring the gloss with McGuire's #3 and then #9,
> but with no luck.  Then I asked her to get a clean, damp cloth like
Steinway
> says in the brochure.  I asked her to wipe a different area affected by
the
> sun and not touched by me  - same thing happened.  Now that Cory All-Brite
> is not at fault here, I'm trying to  think of a way to restore the shiny,
> gloss look so the customer will not have to wipe the entire piano to a
satin
> look.  (After the damp rag was wiped on the finish, it left the color of
the
> stain on the rag).  This happened with both the All-Brite and the damp
rag.
>
> She claims she has never used anything on the piano except a "lightly damp
> cloth."  The cloth today was not drenched with water either.  I'm thinking
> right now that maybe the sun did this finish in to a point of melting the
> properties of the laquer, thus wiping it would cause it to "smear" thus
> bending the light rays in however they bend with the satin look.
>
> Any thoughts or suggestions?
>
> Jay Mercier
> Associate member,
> Twin Cities Chapter PTG
> Glenwood, MN
>
>
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I would try to sand the offending area (lightly) with 1000 wet/dry paper
(wet of course). This will establish a new flat finish.  Next I would use
some coarse rubbing compound followed by a fine rubbing compound.  This will
all depend on how "shiny"  you want it. Some finishes have a hand rubbed
finish.  They usually apply this with #0000 steel wool and water.  Some go a
step further to a deluxed finish, which is basically shining the steel
wooled finish with rubbing compound.

I don't work on a lot of new S&S products so I can only guess how shiny,
"shiny" is.

If you have any more questions, you may write me privately.

Mike Bratcher
MBratPianos@Indy.rr.com