I should add when you seal the bondo with the thin CA don't let it pool, wick up the excess right away with the edge of a paper towel. Also, let it cure completely before you spray the new finish coat). David Love www.davidlovepianos.com From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of David Love Sent: Friday, February 26, 2010 8:24 PM To: pianotech at ptg.org Subject: Re: [pianotech] plate finish There is a method I use for repairing chips as long as it's not inside the string area. Use bondo or something similar (and soft to sand) to fill the chip. Try and keep the patch as small as possible but when dry go ahead and carefully sand it flush to the surrounding area down to whatever grit you used in the original final coat. Seal the bondo with some thin CA glue using the smallest dropper you can find so it doesn't wander too much or build up and lightly sand again trying to keep the sanded area smaller than a quarter. Then get a piece of paper (regular letter size office paper will do) and cut a hole in the center of it about the size of a quarter. Hover the paper over the plate with the hole over right over the area to be sprayed. The paper should be an inch or more off the plate (closer if you don't want it to bleed much and farther if it's a more open area. Then using an aerosol applicator, spray through the hole in the paper from a position about 6 inches above the paper onto the plate. Very light coats! The hole in the paper will keep the spray directed at the small repaired area but create a soft edge to the spray. You can do the same thing with the clear coat. David Love www.davidlovepianos.com In any case, all I have really been able to do is brush in some gold lacquer, but this doesn't fill the chip, it just colors it. A bondo patch will require sanding which will scuff the plate beyond the small localized repair, and now things can go from bad to worse. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/pianotech.php/attachments/20100226/125f518f/attachment.htm>
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