Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Tuner-Technicians Forum Learning how to do the satin black finish.

I think I'd like to learn how to repair and refinish the satin black finish that is on so many pianos. Does anyone know where I might find instructions?

It depends on the level of repair you're talking about.

I am not familiar with a lot of the finishes used on black pianos, but current ones are most likely a polyurethane or synthetic of some sort. Many of these products are extremely hard, especially the catalyzed ones (like an epoxy) which makes anything beyond basic scratch repair a significant undertaking.

Older finishes are probably going to be lacquer, which can be repaired, but it takes a lot of time and elbow grease to do it right.

Any good furniture refinishing resource will work here - it's not something unique to pianos.

The first step would be to determine the type of finish you plan to work with, then do some research.

Dan

My personal opinion is that it takes years of practice after instruction by an expert refinisher(not a book)to do something like this well.

Would anyone hire someone who was doing this for the first or even tenth time to refinish their own piano?

I think most non pros without training and years of practice who refinish, tune, regulate, etc. their pianos do a pretty awful job of it.

Do any of the experienced tuners here think their first 20 tunings(after they had received training)were "B" or better?

To "repair and refinish the satin black finish that is on so many pianos" a person needs a technical set-up similar to the factories which produce it in the first place. This includes climate-controled spray booth with exhaust fans and filters, spray equipment (compressor, hoses, spray guns) and the industrial finishing compounds (sealers, lacquers, etc). Then, it takes a lot of experience and skill to get a good, smooth and even finish.

If you just want to touch up an old piano which has some moving scars, maybe some filler and a can of black spray lacquer will at least make it look less bad, or even unnoticeable, to the untrained eye.

I think Behlin offers classes in furniture finishing and repair. They are an industrial supplier of finishing products. If you are interested in doing this, you should look into it. There is probably a good demand for people who can do it, not just for pianos, but for all types of furniture.

I recommend starting with some flat panels, moving to small pieces of furniture before you work on something big and/or valuable.

Thanks BDB,
That sounds like what I'm looking for. I'm really just looking at it as a hobbyist, right now, but if I could get access to the information and a little practice I might take it further.