<html> <head> <style></style></head> <body class='hmmessage'><div dir='ltr'> Doug, thank you for your detailed answer. I am familiar with French Polish. During my apprenticeship I completely polished some pianos, but that´s more than 20 years ago ;-)  I was just wondering if that König stuff is something special or just shellac. Usually I would prepare the surface by sanding and use oil for polishing and some kind of pore filler (Bimsmehl is the German word, could not find a translation for that) and after polishing I would use some benzoic acid to remove the oil. But using a very special stuff in a one step polishing procedure sounds quite charming :-)   Concerning removing scratches on poyester: no, French Polish does not work. The best method on polyester is just very fine sanding (if needed at all, depends on the depth of the scratches) and polishing with a machine.   Gregor ------------------------ piano technician - tuner - dealer Münster, Germany www.weldert.de   <div>> Date: Sun, 27 Jan 2013 21:37:48 -0500 > From: classicpianodoc@gmail.com > To: pianotech@ptg.org > Subject: Re: [pianotech] How to remove scratches > > Gregor, > It is strange that the German Konig site does not advertise Special > French Polish. I checked my bottle and it is imported. The phone > number in Europe is +49 (0) 61 01 - 53 60 0. > > You should be able to get the Special French Polish in Europe. The > method is much simpler than traditional French Polish as a lubricant > is included in the shellac so that it is only one step. Make a pad > with a ball of wool or gauze and wrap it very tightly with a 20 cm > square of well washed old Tee shirt that is stretchy. I use a golf > ball sized pad or smaller. There should be no creases or folds in the > application surface. On a new pad, first open the cover cloth and wet > the gauze well with Konig French polish but not so that it will drip > when squeezed hard. Put the cover back on and put about 10 more drops > on the stretched surface of the pad. The pad should be just damp > enough so that when you tap it on the back of your hand, it is just > damp. Keep it stretched by twisting the remaining cloth on the back > of the pad and hold onto the twisted part. Practice on a scrap piece > of a finished piece of wood like an upright piano top or key cover or > other furniture piece. It should be at least 20 cm square. Start by > coming down on the wood from a low angle without stopping- Like > landing and airplane. The application should be in a circular motion > that is fairly rapid. You can make overlapping circles and move around > until the whole piece is finished. The pad will leave a slight trail > on the finished area. This is drying shellac that should be drying > almost instantly. You will have to replenish the pad with about 10 > drops of polish every few minutes. Watch for the trail of drying > shellac. When it does not leave a trail, replenish. You can work a > piece with several applications on the same area before it starts to > get a bit sticky. This may take up to 30 minutes of polishing. You may > be done before that happens. If it gets sticky, let it dry for about > 30 minutes and resume polishing. When you have polished it > sufficiently, take some long swipes with the grain to remove any swirl > marks. These should be minimal. Let it dry and you are done. It can be > waxed or not the next day. This is a very brief description. I have a > video but have not put it on the web yet for lack of time and > knowledge of the process to post it. It is on my to do list. > > I am sorry that there is not one on the web. I have looked and have > not found a decent one. Konig does sell a rather good video on this > and other techniques that is well worth buying. It also tells how to > do scratch and dent repair with Konig hard wax and retouching with > their markers and other techniques. I have been doing this kind of > work for years and learned some good techniques from their video. Good > luck. Be sure to practice on one or two pieces first. It does not take > long to learn, even on your own. > > Doug Gregg > Classic Piano Doc > www.classicpianodoc.com > > > > Message: 3 > Date: Sat, 26 Jan 2013 11:15:26 +0100 > From: Gregor _ <karlkaputt@hotmail.com> > To: "pianotech@ptg.org" <pianotech@ptg.org> > Subject: Re: [pianotech] How to remove scratches > Message-ID: <DUB104-W22898FC8B35B3E8EB74575D41A0@phx.gbl> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" > > > Doug, that?s interesting. I found the USA website of K?nig and found > French Polish. But on the German Site there is no Schellack or French > Polish. I attented a class at K?nig about scratch repair with the > focus on Polyester, but all other surfaces were tought as well. I > don?t remember that they offer French Polish in Germany. > > How do you use the French Polish? As a quick and dirty method just > applying with a bale or do you prepare the surface? What would you do > with the fallboard example form Michael? > > Gregor > > ------------------------ > piano technician - tuner - dealer > M?nster, Germany > www.weldert.de > > > > Date: Fri, 25 Jan 2013 11:36:20 -0500 > > From: classicpianodoc@gmail.com > > To: pianotech@ptg.org > > Subject: [pianotech] How to remove scratches > > > > Michael, > > I repair such scratches all the time with French polishing. I gave a > > seminar on it in Seattle. It is quite easy to do. It works so well for > > this kind of thing because it only adds a thin layer of shellac and > > there is no risk as there is with sanding and polishing. The beauty of > > French polishing is it fills the scratches selectively without > > building up finish on the non-scratched area. That is, it fills the > > valleys up to the top of the hills leaving a glass-smooth surface. It > > is also very safe and I often do it in the clients music room over an > > Oriental carpet with no concern of odor or spills or overspray. I use > > Konig Special French polish from www.konignorthamerica.com. Or google > > Konig french polish. They also have videos. > > > > The alternate quick and dirty solution is to spray the fall board with > > several coats of clear lacquer. Then fine sand and polish the new > > lacquer without the danger of damaging the black underneath. I find > > that polishing lacquer to a high polish is not that easy. I would sand > > it with 400 and then 600 paper with water, dry, and then give a final > > coat of spray that lays down flat. Do that outside if possible. The > > fumes are strong. French polish still comes out better and is three > > times as fast. There is no waiting for lacquer to dry and no sanding. > > > > See my web site to see French polishing before, during, and after. > > www.classicpianodoc.com > > > > Doug Gregg > > Classic piano Doc > > Southold, NY > > > > Message: 1 > > Date: Thu, 24 Jan 2013 17:00:01 -0800 (PST) > > From: MICHAEL MEZHINSKY <pghpianotuning@yahoo.com> > > To: "pianotech@ptg.or" <pianotech@ptg.org> > > Subject: [pianotech] How to remove scratches > > Message-ID: > > <1359075601.24779.YahooMailNeo@web160205.mail.bf1.yahoo.com> > > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" > > > > Hello, > > Can anyone suggest how?to remove scratches on the black lacquer finish > > fall board on a 1932 piano or make it look better? > > The picture is attached. > > Thanks for your help. > > Michael Mezhinsky RPT </div> </div></body> </html>