Wood Finish?

[Clark Sprague]

Hi, Everyone.  Can anyone tell me what finish is on the Louis XV Steinway L?  I will try to attach the 3 photos I took.  Thanks.   Clark A. Sprague, RPT

[Terry Farrell]

Brown!

I seriously hope that you don't expect anyone to provide any more info than that based on the fuzzy pictures (not that clear pictures would be any better.

Better avenue would be to first determine whether the finish is original and the age of the piano. If it is, I suppose it would be lacquer - others know better than I if S&S ever used anything else. After that, best to start testing in inconspicuous places with various solvents to see what it takes to dissolve it. Again, others know finishes better than I, but I do know that will narrow things down a good bit for you.

Terry Farrell

On Apr 3, 2015, at 4:44 PM, Clark Sprague wrote:

> Hi, Everyone. Can anyone tell me what finish is on the Louis XV Steinway L? I will try to attach the 3 photos I took. Thanks. Clark A. Sprague, RPT

> <20150327_163916.jpg><20150327_163923.jpg><20150327_163953.jpg>

[Joseph Garrett]

Clark,

Contact S&S they have all of that information.

Best,

Joe

-----Original Message-----
From: Clark Sprague
Sent: Apr 3, 2015 1:44 PM
To: pian...@googlegroups.com
Subject: [pianotech] Wood Finish?

Hi, Everyone.  Can anyone tell me what finish is on the Louis XV Steinway L?  I will try to attach the 3 photos I took.  Thanks.   Clark A. Sprague, RPT

Captain of the Tool Police
Squares R I
gpianoworks.com

[Arthur]

Side appears faded. Desk and front look like walnut

Sent from my iPhone

[Joseph Garrett]

Hmm? That would be the wood, not the "finish"!

Captain of the Tool Police
Squares R I
gpianoworks.com

[AMari...@aol.com]

all of the louis I have seen were walnut finish.. brown.  medium  early versions were nicely bookmatched.

 

In a message dated 4/3/2015 5:11:04 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time, joega...@earthlink.net writes:

Clark,

Contact S&S they have all of that information.

Best,

Joe

-----Original Message-----
From: Clark Sprague
Sent: Apr 3, 2015 1:44 PM
To: pian...@googlegroups.com
Subject: [pianotech] Wood Finish?

Hi, Everyone.  Can anyone tell me what finish is on the Louis XV Steinway L?  I will try to attach the 3 photos I took.  Thanks.   Clark A. Sprague, RPT

[Joseph Garrett]

Al,

"Walnut" is the wood, not the finish. "Brown" "medium" would be the color, not the finish.

 With Steinway they used Varnish, Lacquer and in earliest versions, French Polish. So, you'd have to know the date of the piano, etc. S & S has all that info in their files. Sometimes the grands would have numbers on the right side of the plate pin field that denoted the finish and batch therein.

Best,

Joe

-----Original Message-----
From: AMarino711 via pianotech
Sent: Apr 3, 2015 2:21 PM
To: pian...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: [pianotech] Wood Finish?

[AMari...@aol.com]

In the Steinway price list,, the Louis is listed as being available in walnut, or east Indian rosewood. No further description is offered. 

 

Any new piano catalog will list the woods available.  A lot is understood.

 

Rosewood

Mahogany

Walnut

Ebony

and will say weather its satin or polish. 

 

Al

[hgre...@sonic.net]

Hi, Clark,

Depending on how old it is, the finish is either lacquer or varnish (probably the former).

Of course, if it's been "refinished", all bets are off.

Kind regards.

Horace

[Clark Sprague]

Sorry, not the finish, what kind of wood is the piano?

[Arthur]

Sticking with walnut   😁

Sent from my iPhone

[hgre...@sonic.net]

Hi, Clark,

I may be wrong, but I don't remember seeing Louis' in other than walnut; though there may be some out there.

Kind regards,

Horace

[Douglas Gregg]

Clark,
I am pretty sure it is walnut with a "starburst" finish. That is the
air brushing around the edges. To do this, first finish it as usual
and then using a darker brown or black pigment in the same base as
applied first, carefully airbrush the edges with multiple passes and a
very fine spray pattern to fade from wood to nearly black. It is a bit
tricky finish to reproduce. I recommend a bit of practice if you are
going to do it.

Doug Gregg

[Terry Farrell]

Walnut stain?

Terry Farrell

[Dan Silverwood]

Most likely walnut although at times I have come across mahogany in that particular cut.

The colour is medium walnut and a shading coat or tint coat in dark walnut or black walnut is sprayed along the edges and detail points, and then continues down the legs, so the tinted edges and the legs appear the same colour scheme.

This can also be done with the original colour of medium walnut and adding black and other coloured NGR stain to the mix.

Most likely water stain at that point in time, rather than the alcohol based NGR widely used today.

Water stains are beginning to make a comeback due to environmental concerns.

I have done a couple of these. It is not difficult to accomplish if one has the proper equipment and knowledge of finishing.

I believe it would be difficult to achieve that effect with varnish as varnish coats stack upon each other and the added materials on the side would create depth and give an uneven surface when caught in certain lighting.

That is one of the joys of nitrocellulose. Each coats melts into the one below; kind of like what the Zamboni does to the ice surface.

I would think given the serial number it is nitro. Not really that important as the finish is finished and requires replacement.

I asked a 4^th generation finisher here a question about finishes; here is the response;

Hi Dan

As for your question regarding the time frame of when lacquers started being used on pianos, the answer may depend on the manufacturers.  What I do know is that spray nitrocellulose lacquers started being used on some production furniture as early as 1900, and by the time my dad served his apprenticeship in the 1930s it was in common use.  Nitrocellulose lacquers chemically are related to film celluloid and cellophane.  They are still in use now, and I believe Steinway still uses this lacquer.  I'm pretty sure that after WW11 most production pianos were being sprayed.

[Clark Sprague]

Thanks to all who replied.  Doug Gregg and Dan Silverwood have both commented on the "starburst finish", with walnut as the wood.  I would never have thought of that, and I think you are right.  By the way, this and 5 other Steinways, and a Mason and Hamlin are for sale from the collection of this retired tech.  I got nominated to help him sell them.  It will likely happen slowly, but it will happen.  Email me privately for more information.   Thanks again!   Clark

On Friday, April 3, 2015 at 4:44:41 PM UTC-4, Clark Sprague wrote: