<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; =
charset=iso-8859-1">
<META content="MSHTML 6.00.2800.1276" name=GENERATOR>
<STYLE></STYLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY bgColor=#ffffff>
<DIV><SPAN class=171435604-29012004><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff =
size=2>You
can paint the cheap wooden sharps with black lacquer, but =
if it has
real ebony, I just clean all the old finish off them and use the =
same rag
wheel I use to polish brass. Use the red rouge like for brass and =
polish
the ebony itself as if it were brass. It achieves a lustre not =
found in
any other sharps. It is not completely black-- it has dark brown =
grain in
it but my antique loving customers love the look it has. On rare =
occasions
there will be a really light colored streak. On those I use black =
stain or
India ink to darken it to match the other 35 sharps.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=171435604-29012004><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff =
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=171435604-29012004>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>D.L. Bullock St. =
Louis</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><A
href="http://www.thepianoworld.com/">www.thepianoworld.com</A></FONT></=
DIV>
<DIV> </DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff =
size=2></FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=171435604-29012004></SPAN><FONT face=Tahoma><FONT =
size=2><SPAN
class=171435604-29012004><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff> </FONT></SPAN></FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Tahoma><FONT size=2><SPAN
class=171435604-29012004></SPAN></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Tahoma><FONT size=2><SPAN
class=171435604-29012004> </SPAN>----Original =
Message-----<BR><B>From:</B>
Randy Rush [mailto:randyrush@earthlink.net]<BR><B>Sent:</B> Wednesday, =
January
28, 2004 1:17 PM<BR><B>To:</B> pianotech@ptg.org<BR><B>Subject:</B> =
Recoating
sharps<BR><BR></DIV></FONT></FONT>
<BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr style="MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" color=#000080 =
size=2>Listers,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" color=#000080 =
size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" color=#000080 size=2>Have any of =
you folks
come up with a satisfactory method of recoating old sharps that is =
also cost
effective? Long ago, I tried black dye, followed by muliple =
coats of
black lacquer from a can, and finished with a few clear coats. I =
was
never really satisfied with the results, even after rubbing down with =
steel
wool. It always looked less than professional to me, and I went =
to
advising people to replace with plastic sharps, especially if I was =
replacing
the keytops too.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" color=#000080 =
size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" color=#000080 size=2>I now have =
a customer who
is insistent on keeping the wooden sharps (I haven't seen them yet, =
but I
don't think they are ebony), and I'd like to come up with a =
refinishing method
that looks better than just decent, without having to set up a spray =
booth and
compressor, which I can't really do. What's your
experience?</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" color=#000080 =
size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" color=#000080 =
size=2>Thanks,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" color=#000080 =
size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" color=#000080 size=2>Randy
Rush</FONT></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>