I got roped into refinishing(stripping, etc) a friend's old upright piano
that belonged to his mother and had been in the family for years.
It had the usual alligatored opaque varnish, but he swears it was once
beautiful mahogany.
Anyway, I started experimenting with the big board that the music sits
on -- stripped it using Strypease & after each of two coats (so far ) of
stripper, washed it down with a strong TSP water solution. Each time I am
getting a nearly-black rinse water, and the wood is still very dark, I can
barely make out the grain. It is almost as if it had been ebonized.
Is there anyway to quickly remove this dark stain? Each rinse with the TSP
solution removes a little more dark stain, but it far from the nice grain my
friend expects. Since the veneer is held on with the old water-soluble
hot-glue, I am afraid to get it wet too long.
Might a different brand of stripper work better?
Can I bleach it and get the black out?
TIA
www.homesteadfinishing.com Repair & Restoration forum might be helpful
to read.
On Mon, 3 Nov 2003 16:42:36 -0600, "jhill" <[email protected]> wrote:
>Might a different brand of stripper work better?
> Can I bleach it and get the black out?
You might try denatured alcohol. I started a similar project last summer.
Brush the alcohol on heavy and cover with wax paper. Let it set a few
min. then wipe it off. It takes several goes at this to get rid of the
old finish. Work small areas at a time, alcohol evaporates fast and the
old finish re-dries? very quickly.
adventure documented at:
http://www.piano.laminger.com/cabres2.htm
Refinishing has gone pretty quick and easy...now to get the insides
working.....
jhill wrote:
> I got roped into refinishing(stripping, etc) a friend's old upright piano
> that belonged to his mother and had been in the family for years.
> It had the usual alligatored opaque varnish, but he swears it was once
> beautiful mahogany.
> Anyway, I started experimenting with the big board that the music sits
> on -- stripped it using Strypease & after each of two coats (so far ) of
> stripper, washed it down with a strong TSP water solution. Each time I am
> getting a nearly-black rinse water, and the wood is still very dark, I can
> barely make out the grain. It is almost as if it had been ebonized.
> Is there anyway to quickly remove this dark stain? Each rinse with the TSP
> solution removes a little more dark stain, but it far from the nice grain my
> friend expects. Since the veneer is held on with the old water-soluble
> hot-glue, I am afraid to get it wet too long.
> Might a different brand of stripper work better?
> Can I bleach it and get the black out?
>
> TIA
>
>
Thanks, Larry, I will try that tomorrow.
"Larry Laminger" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> You might try denatured alcohol. I started a similar project last summer.
>
> Brush the alcohol on heavy and cover with wax paper. Let it set a few
> min. then wipe it off. It takes several goes at this to get rid of the
> old finish. Work small areas at a time, alcohol evaporates fast and the
> old finish re-dries? very quickly.
>
>
> adventure documented at:
> http://www.piano.laminger.com/cabres2.htm
>
> Refinishing has gone pretty quick and easy...now to get the insides
> working.....
>
> jhill wrote:
> > I got roped into refinishing(stripping, etc) a friend's old upright
piano
> > that belonged to his mother and had been in the family for years.
> > It had the usual alligatored opaque varnish, but he swears it was once
> > beautiful mahogany.
> > Anyway, I started experimenting with the big board that the music sits
> > on -- stripped it using Strypease & after each of two coats (so far ) of
> > stripper, washed it down with a strong TSP water solution. Each time I
am
> > getting a nearly-black rinse water, and the wood is still very dark, I
can
> > barely make out the grain. It is almost as if it had been ebonized.
> > Is there anyway to quickly remove this dark stain? Each rinse with the
TSP
> > solution removes a little more dark stain, but it far from the nice
grain my
> > friend expects. Since the veneer is held on with the old water-soluble
> > hot-glue, I am afraid to get it wet too long.
> > Might a different brand of stripper work better?
> > Can I bleach it and get the black out?
> >
> > TIA
> >
> >
>