My experience of the finish on a piano case was in relation to
a finish that had the extensive crocodile cracks that looked awful.
The finish was one that softened with methylated spirits ["metho",
denatured alcohol].

To restore the finish, I just kept swabbing the surface with a paint
brush loaded with metho.  I kept on and on with this until the lacquer
softened to the point of being the consistency of treacle.  The state
of the lacquer allowed it to flow and it became highly glossy when it
dried.  It takes some weeks to properly dry out and not show finger
marks.

The customer invited me back to his house some two years after this,
and I was impressed at the state of the case.  It looked as if it was
brand new -- really a beautiful look.  Not all finishes will respond
in the same way.

I think that their particular piano was an Aussie-made piano, and
what the lacquer was is a mystery.  The point is that it sometimes is
possible that the existing finish can be reinstated without having to
go back to the bare wood.

On another piano, a Steck (not from USA but British-made, or maybe
Aussie-made), the finish had to be completely removed because it just
looked tired.  The finish would not respond to metho.  The new finish
was a paint job, and it too looks brilliant.  It was a polyester type
brush finish and it is impossible to see any brush marks anywhere.
I had not had such success with a brush finish before.

I find, to remove lacquers and the like, that a piece of guillotined
steel will make an effective scraper without damaging the wood.  I have
a rule of thumb which is that if lacquers have to come off, don't use
a paint stripper.  Stripping takes just as much time and the residue
still must be removed manually.

Paul Rumpf - regards from Melbourne, Australia