<html><body><div style="color:#000; background-color:#fff; font-family:times new roman, new york, times, serif;font-size:12pt"><div><span>Yeah. I realized that once I pressed "Send". (One should not check emails when fatigued.) </span></div><div></div><div> </div><div>Euphonious Thumpe<br></div> <div style="font-family: times new roman, new york, times, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> <div style="font-family: times new roman, new york, times, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> <div dir="ltr"> <font size="2" face="Arial"> <div style="margin: 5px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); height: 0px; line-height: 0; font-size: 0px;" class="hr" contentEditable="false" readonly="true"></div> <b><span style="font-weight: bold;">From:</span></b> Encore Pianos <encorepianos@metrocast.net><br> <b><span style="font-weight: bold;">To:</span></b> pianotech@ptg.org <br> <b><span style="font-weight: bold;">Sent:</span></b> Friday, May 25, 2012 8:58 PM<br> <b><span style="font-weight: bold;">Subject:</span></b> Re: [pianotech] bead blasting wood...gently<br> </font> </div> <wbr> <div id="yiv123138113"><style></style><div><div class="yiv123138113WordSection1"><div class="yiv123138113MsoNormal"><span style="color: black;">Thanks, Thumpe, but I’m not trying to sandblast the whole plate, just the immediate area around the lettering.  From there, I would prime, gold, clear, and paint the letters black.</span></div><div class="yiv123138113MsoNormal"><span style="color: black;">  </span></div><div class="yiv123138113MsoNormal"><span style="color: black;">Will </span></div><div class="yiv123138113MsoNormal"><span style="color: black;">  </span></div><div class="yiv123138113MsoNormal"><b><span style='font-family: "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;'>From:</span></b><span style='font-family: "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;'> pianotech-bounces@ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces@ptg.org] <b>On Behalf Of </b>Euphonious Thumpe<br><b>Sent:</b> Friday, May 25, 2012 8:04 PM<br><b>To:</b> pianotech@ptg.org<br><b>Subject:</b> Re: [pianotech] bead blasting wood...gently</span></div><div class="yiv123138113MsoNormal">  </div><table class="yiv123138113MsoNormalTable" border="0" cellSpacing="0" cellPadding="0"><tbody><tr><td style="padding: 0in;" vAlign="top"><div><div class="yiv123138113MsoNormal">You might want to reconsider. The "bare metal" under the paint is rough, porous cast iron that has been coated with stuff called 'way back when "Japanning" : I suspect some sort of coal tar derivative that filled the pores and imperfections in the rough sand-casting. (If you want to see what the plate looked like without it, turn the plate over.) Yes, you could take the plate down to that. But you'd be giving youreslf a big job smoothing it out again.<br>( Probably with toxic auto-body filler. ) So why bother? If you don't like the look of some letters, try improving them ( after the bronze paint has been removed ) with a little JB weld, or (the thicker) PC7 and careful sanding and filing. (Besides, I suspect that you'd find the lettering beneath the paint as bad or worse than with the paint on it.)<br><br>Thumpe</div></div></td></tr></tbody></table><div id="yiv123138113_origMsg_"><div><div class="yiv123138113MsoNormal"><span style='font-family: "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;'>  </span></div><div><div style="text-align: center;" class="yiv123138113MsoNormal" align="center"><span style='font-family: "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;'><div style="margin: 5px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); height: 0px; line-height: 0; font-size: 0px;" class="hr" contentEditable="false" readonly="true"></div></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 12pt;" class="yiv123138113MsoNormal"><b><span style='font-family: "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;'>From: </span></b><span style='font-family: "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;'>Encore Pianos <<a href="mailto:encorepianos@metrocast.net" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" saprocessedanchor="true" original_target="mailto:encorepianos@metrocast.net" ymailto="mailto:encorepianos@metrocast.net">encorepianos@metrocast.net</a>>; <br><b>To: </b><<a href="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" saprocessedanchor="true" original_target="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org" ymailto="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org">pianotech@ptg.org</a>>; <br><b>Subject: </b>Re: [pianotech] bead blasting wood...gently <br><b>Sent: </b>Fri, May 25, 2012 11:14:20 PM </span></div><table class="yiv123138113MsoNormalTable" border="0" cellSpacing="0" cellPadding="0"><tbody><tr><td style="padding: 0in;" vAlign="top"><div style="margin-bottom: 12pt;" class="yiv123138113MsoNormal">I have been thinking of sandblasting my next piano plate in the areas of the<br>lettering, doing so carefully so as to take it down to bare metal in that<br>area, before painting again.  I would want to do so in such a way as to<br>remove all the paint while minimally disturbing the iron.  The more coats of<br>paint you put on a plate around the lettering, the more it loses shape and<br>definition.  The idea is refinish the plate whilst retaining as much<br>definition as possible.  Do you or anyone have suggestions as to the best<br>material?<br><br>Will Truitt<br><br>-----Original Message-----<br>From: <a rel="nofollow">pianotech-bounces@ptg.org</a> [mailto:<a rel="nofollow">pianotech-bounces@ptg.org</a>] On Behalf<br>Of Douglas Gregg<br>Sent: Friday, May 25, 2012 4:58 PM<br>To: pianotech<br>Subject: [pianotech] bead blasting wood...gently<br><br>I have seen some great u-tube videos on cleaning finish off of ornate carved<br>mantels, etc. with no damage to the wood. There are at least three grades of<br>baking soda granules for auto body work for removing paint from fiberglass<br>bodies and metal too. I have used household baking soda with success in<br>cleaning old and dirty wood action parts as an experiment. It worked well.<br>It is not aggressive at all.<br>Household baking soda will not take off paint or finish very well. You need<br>bigger granules for that. It will clean dirty parts. I use a simple cheap<br>canister sand blaster that looks like a spray gun with a pipe nozzle. . It<br>worked fine for small stuff.<br><br>Doug Gregg<br>Classic Piano Doc<br><br><br>Message: 1<br>Date: Thu, 24 May 2012 22:32:45 -0400<br>From: "<a rel="nofollow">jim@grandpianosolutions.com</a>" <<a rel="nofollow">jim@grandpianosolutions.com</a>><br>To: pianotech <<a rel="nofollow">pianotech@ptg.org</a>><br>Subject: [pianotech]  bead blasting wood...gently<br>Message-ID: <<a rel="nofollow">4FBEEF4D.6010809@grandpianosolutions.com</a>><br>Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed<br><br><I've also heard of blasting with baking soda. Tried it? Any info on it?<br>Thumpe<br><br>I've got baking soda in the shop.  I was going to use it, but decided to<br>take a shot with the fine bead, since I already had that in the sump.<br><br>I will say that I had to also be very gentle and careful with the soda on<br>wood, as it is surprisingly aggressive.<br><br><br>Jim Ialeggio<br><br>--<br>Jim Ialeggio<br><a rel="nofollow">jim@grandpianosolutions.com</a><br>(978) 425-9026<br>Shirley, MA<br><br></div></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="yiv123138113MsoNormal"><span style='font-family: "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;'>  </span></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><wbr><wbr> </div> </div> </div></body></html>