Many thanks to all who replied to this thread. I will pass your expertise on to the piano owner. Special thanks to William for your detailed description. Tom Cole William Monroe wrote: > Hi Thomas, > > I've done just this repair. As others have suggested, it's a little > troubling. In the end, my experience was, well......OK. Two new > brass "decals" later (yes, then entire onlay must be purchased each > time, logo and lettering), the results were fine from the audience. > There are a number of problems with this mess. > > First: If the brass lifting is very minor, you can try the tiniest > amount of thin CA. Using a jewelers oiler is probably the best > option. The finest supply house hypo really delivers more than you > need and the needle forces you to lift the brass more than is > desirable. Sometimes this can work. When it fails go to...... > > Second: You can try removing the old lyre onlay very carefully (maybe > heating as Jon suggested) and then fitting the new only in the old > lacquer shadow. I tried this, gave up. The details of the brass > onlay are so fine it is nearly impossible to get it to just "drop in" > to the old lacquer shadow. And, if it doesn't just "drop-in" you'll > have to pull it back off to reposition - which means you'll bend the > brass out in the process. If by some minor miracle this works for > you, proceed to "Fourth." And, for those of us living in reality, > when that doesn't work either........ > > Third: What worked for me was removing the entire piece (use whatever > indexing method you like for replacing it). I wouldn't worry about > chipping the edges of the lacquer, for your next step will be > to............wet sand the lyre area starting at 220 to take down the > buildup of clear that was around the original lyre onlay. I sanded an > extended area, basically from the lettering up to the top of the > treble side, staying away from the edges which are usually either > already burned through from the factory, or soon to be by you. > Basically, you are trying to make it so the area around the new onlay > won't "pop" as a repair. Once the buildup that was around the > original onlay was worked down "a bit," I sanded up to p400. Then > apply the new lyre onlay. > > Fourth: Once you have the new onlay installed, give the treble side a > couple or three "mist coats" of lacquer (you can get it in a rattle > can, either from S&S or from Walter Wurdack company. Then I did a > clear doty type of touch up around the lyre to fill in any major > unevenness in the finish. A medium coat of clear, come back tomorrow > and sand level, fill in any remaining holes/divots doty style, another > medium coat. Come back tomorrow, heavy coat, next day, level and > heavy coat..............ad infinitum, ad nauseum. You must also take > care to feather in the new lacquer with the old finish, I usually aim > to taper the spray off at the middle of the outside treble case curve, > and the entire treble case side ends up getting sprayed before it's done. > > This is a challenging repair. Best in the shop. It shouldn't be done > in someones home - too much spraying, too much wet sanding, too much > chance of having the finish mucked up with daily traffic, too many > trips to make the repair (DAMHIK). You are spraying lacquer - the > entire piano needs to be covered - I taped the cover cloth to the top > of the treble side rim and then up and over the piano to prevent any > lacquer from getting into the belly area. > > When you are wet sanding to prep the area for the new onlay, DO NOT > use any lubricant other than water. It can cause you all manner of > trouble getting the new onlay to adhere. Again, DAMHIK. > > For the final sand, it's to p400 for me, with water/wool lube and then > to 0000 wool with water/wool lube, then polish. > > It really is quite a time consuming repair. > > William R. Monroe > > > > On Wed, May 20, 2009 at 3:02 PM, Jon Page <jonpage at comcast.net > <mailto:jonpage at comcast.net>> wrote: > > The thin brass is not an inlay, it's an onlay or applique. As Paul > stated, > the finish is built up around it. Even if you can purchase the > solitary "S" > without having to but the whole applique, you will also be extremely > lucky to remove the old letter without chipping the margins. > > Maybe applying heat with an iron (surface protected with a cloth) > to the "S" will soften the glue and margins enough to limit damage. > > The whole area will then need to be sanded through the clear > protective coat to make the color and patina make on the brass > and a clear coat put over it all. > > If they want it all looking the same, remove all the other letters > and leave the black silhouette. > -- > > Regards, > > Jon Page > > >
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