I've shied away from working with polyester problems because I avoid any toxic tumes as much as I can.
The most I end up doing for shiny black polyester pianos is to alert the homeowners that they can be cleaned up with a barely damp rag or washcloth, but they should not be rubbed with a dry cloth because the dust is an abrasive and can cloud the shine. Also that stacks of music, etc., can take off the shine, for the same reason.
I say that they are impervious to water and alcohol, but they chip and scratch very easily, and of course anything wet needs to be strictly away from the inside of a grand. Also, they get noisy where two case parts are in contact, such as the sides and legs of benches. I take off one leg at a time, and put a very small smear of VJ lube where the surfaces contact.
I've got to hand it to people who can deal with damage on a polyester case. Not a trivial pursuit. The celesta was possible for me to tackle because its condition was so horrible I couldn't see any way it could end up worse. Some of the case has ended up lighter, some darker, some was already refinished by someone (probably with the Seattle Symphony) who made it very dark, and it was protected when the case was closed. I just left that part alone. I still have a very intractable problem with all the gouges taken out of the back vertical edges. Unsure just how to manage that. Shellac stick filled it and also rebuilt the right front corner which was shattered, but was opaque and not a good color match. I've thought of taking a thin layer off the whole back vertical edges, and gluing on a piece of red oak veneer, then French Polishing that. I must say this instrument has given me quite a learning opportunity. A professional would feel the need to make the whole case exactly the same, and the amount of damage, the gouges and scratches and dents, might either end up very expensive or might make finding someone willing to tackle it hard to find. Also, we all feel safer with the instrument safely in its storage box in Newport, not sent out to someone. I'm getting a lot of approval so far, and I'm not even done yet. The shiny rich color seems popular.
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Susan Kline
Philomath, Oregon
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Original Message:
Sent: 06-20-2019 22:56
From: Kevin Fortenberry
Subject: Just for fun, Progress on "restoring" a baby grand
Nice Susan. You're like a touch-up artist. I've dabbled here & there...I was more proud of myself doing that huge polyester repair on the bass corner of that BRAND (spankin new in the South..) NEW high polished black grand the movers dropped on delivery. Whew...it was a lot of work but primarily time-consuming. It came out really pretty nice. Absolute perfection is never the goal with these kinds of repairs-by the way there is a fairly new book out on poly ester piano repairs written by one of my great long-time RPT friends in Houston, Mike Ello.
He's repaired a piano with a bullet right through the treble side...and so forth. Great book. I can provide info if anyone is interested.
Original Message------
A neat trick, splicing a piece that big into the lid, and then disguising it.
I did, however, have some torn veneer on a corner of that celesta, and I took a piece of red oak (which is what the case is made of), cut different thicknesses of it on a Shopsmith bandsaw, and then spliced two of them in. Not perfect, but letting the finish go dark there helped to keep it from being glaring. More photos ...
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Susan Kline
Philomath, Oregon
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