Player Piano - Stripping Paint and Rebuilding
By Larry Toto
> Me and my wife are starting to restore a player piano we bought. The
> old owners liked it better white, so they brush painted it, twice. I am
> intenting to remove the paint without damaging the wood. Also, we want
>to know if there is a way to have it looking antique.
>
> If anyone has any opinions or suggestions plese email me, post
> answer or call me at 608-278-7773.
Raymond,
I rebuilt a player piano with two coats of paint over a beautiful burled walnut veneer. I stripped the paint off with several applications of methylene chloride with a thickening agent that makes it gel (available at the corner hardware store). The presence of the paint probably help to protect the finish from nicks and scratches for many years - the walnut was in greate shape. I proceded by removing all removable pieces, separating all brass hardware and screws, and carefully making notes and drawings.
The first pass was with the methylene chloride and a good straight scraper with no nicks in the blade.
The second pass was a repeat of the first pass, since I had multiple paint coats.
The next pass was with a thin coating of methylene chloride (a few drops of water to thin the gel helps) and 0000 steel wool. This cleans the wood pretty well.
I then used a fine sand paper on a wood block the lightly sand the surfaces flat. Don't round over on the edges.
*Don't leave moisture on the wood for extended periods, the
veneer may lift. I never had this happen. I was warned
beforehand.
I did some veneer repairs, learning some of the technique from a neighbor who was a bow maker and violin repair guy (Chet Olsen).
The wood was finished with Deft Brush-On Lacquer - multiple coats with an light sanding between coats and finished with a rub with 0000 steel wool for a satin look. Use a quality china bristle brush ($10-12) in a well ventilated area when it's not too humid (finish gets a whitish hue on hot sticky days). The lacquer is self-leveling, meaning that the brush strokes disappear (almost completely) before the lacquer dries. It results in a job that looks sprayed-on.
That's everything I know. Good luck.
Larry Toto |
(Message sent Mon 12 Aug 1996, 17:13:02 GMT, from time zone GMT-0400.) |
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