I bought a 1921 Bell upright piano at an estate auction for $300 (Bell
was a Canadian company that made very good quality uprights).

Mechanically, it seems to be in excellent shape. However, the finish
is in bad shape- dirty, dull, and cracked (looks like reptile skin).
The hammers
are also dirty from eighty years of dust.

You can see pictures at:

http://www.math.uwaterloo.ca/~mrubinst/piano/index.html

Here are my questions:

1) What should I use to clean all that grimy dirt (as in the 3rd and
4th images) without further damaging the finish?

2) How can I restore the finish without stripping the current finish
off. I'd like to just wipe something on that will make it look nice and

get rid of the cracks, as in the 6th image. Searching around on the web

I came across: Fromby's Furniture Face Lift Kit, Howard's
Restor-A-Finish. Any thoughts about these products? What about tung
oil- would tung oil by itself do the trick or would I need to apply
something first before putting on tung oil? Any other ideas?

3) There are some places where the finish is missing (for example,
lookat the 5th image). What's a good way to touch up those parts?

4) Is it possible to clean the hammers without damaging them, or should

I just leave them dirty? I already tried to vacuum the top surface. of
the hammers.

Thanks for any suggestions.

Hi,
Haven't used either of those refinishing products, but I don't think you
want to use tung oil. You need to remove the wrinkly old finish first. Also,
in case you didn't know, most of the panels on a piano are removeable,
except the sides. So, you don't have to refinish it all in one piece.
Bob

wrote in message
oups.com...
I bought a 1921 Bell upright piano at an estate auction for $300 (Bell
was a Canadian company that made very good quality uprights).

Mechanically, it seems to be in excellent shape. However, the finish
is in bad shape- dirty, dull, and cracked (looks like reptile skin).
The hammers
are also dirty from eighty years of dust.

You can see pictures at:

http://www.math.uwaterloo.ca/~mrubinst/piano/index.html

Here are my questions:

1) What should I use to clean all that grimy dirt (as in the 3rd and
4th images) without further damaging the finish?

2) How can I restore the finish without stripping the current finish
off. I'd like to just wipe something on that will make it look nice and

get rid of the cracks, as in the 6th image. Searching around on the web

I came across: Fromby's Furniture Face Lift Kit, Howard's
Restor-A-Finish. Any thoughts about these products? What about tung
oil- would tung oil by itself do the trick or would I need to apply
something first before putting on tung oil? Any other ideas?

3) There are some places where the finish is missing (for example,
lookat the 5th image). What's a good way to touch up those parts?

4) Is it possible to clean the hammers without damaging them, or should

I just leave them dirty? I already tried to vacuum the top surface. of
the hammers.

Thanks for any suggestions.

2) How can I restore the finish without stripping the current finish
off. I'd like to just wipe something on that will make it look nice and
get rid of the cracks, as in the 6th image. Searching around on the web
I came across: Fromby's Furniture Face Lift Kit, Howard's
Restor-A-Finish. Any thoughts about these products? What about tung
oil- would tung oil by itself do the trick or would I need to apply
something first before putting on tung oil? Any other ideas?

Caveat: I'm not a professional restorer by any stretch - just a
hobbyist woodworker. Given that, I think you're going to be
disappointed with anything applied on top of the old finish. Just
wiping something on to get rid of cracks sounds easy, but I'd be amazed
if anything actually did this. "Restor-a-finish" and similar products
promise to cover up cracks and make your furniture look like new, but
I'm afraid the main ingredient in these is snake oil. Kind of like the
stuff that is supposed to renew your hair if you're bald, but actually
just dyes your scalp?
If you really want your piano looking like new, the best option would
be completely stripping off the old finish (some combination of
chemical stripper, scraping, sanding, more sanding, etc.) If the
finish is shellac, denatured alcohol will soften the finish. If it's
NOT shellac, rubbing alcohol would be a decent cleaner to remove dust,
grime, etc. I don't think tung oil would be a good choice to apply on
top of a previous finish.
If you really don't want to strip off all the old finish, I'd say you'd
still have to clean all surfaces very thoroughly with furniture cleaner
or maybe mineral spirits and then wax it and learn to appreciate the
"character" of the cracks. You might also sand the whole thing lightly
before adding a new coat of varnish or some other clearcoat finish.
Have you looked online and at your local library for furniture
refinishing books?
Good luck,
Andy

Visit www.refinishwizard.com and look around. Lots of questions
similar to yours.

On 21 Jun 2006 20:30:32 -0700, wrote:

I bought a 1921 Bell upright piano at an estate auction for $300 (Bell
was a Canadian company that made very good quality uprights).

Mechanically, it seems to be in excellent shape. However, the finish
is in bad shape- dirty, dull, and cracked (looks like reptile skin).
The hammers
are also dirty from eighty years of dust.

You can see pictures at:

http://www.math.uwaterloo.ca/~mrubinst/piano/index.html

Here are my questions:

1) What should I use to clean all that grimy dirt (as in the 3rd and
4th images) without further damaging the finish?

2) How can I restore the finish without stripping the current finish
off. I'd like to just wipe something on that will make it look nice and

get rid of the cracks, as in the 6th image. Searching around on the web

I came across: Fromby's Furniture Face Lift Kit, Howard's
Restor-A-Finish. Any thoughts about these products? What about tung
oil- would tung oil by itself do the trick or would I need to apply
something first before putting on tung oil? Any other ideas?

3) There are some places where the finish is missing (for example,
lookat the 5th image). What's a good way to touch up those parts?

4) Is it possible to clean the hammers without damaging them, or should

I just leave them dirty? I already tried to vacuum the top surface. of
the hammers.

Thanks for any suggestions.

wrote in
oups.com:

I bought a 1921 Bell upright piano at an estate auction for $300 (Bell
was a Canadian company that made very good quality uprights).

Mechanically, it seems to be in excellent shape. However, the finish
is in bad shape- dirty, dull, and cracked (looks like reptile skin).
The hammers
are also dirty from eighty years of dust.

You can see pictures at:

http://www.math.uwaterloo.ca/~mrubinst/piano/index.html

Here are my questions:

1) What should I use to clean all that grimy dirt (as in the 3rd and
4th images) without further damaging the finish?

2) How can I restore the finish without stripping the current finish
off. I'd like to just wipe something on that will make it look nice and

get rid of the cracks, as in the 6th image. Searching around on the web

I came across: Fromby's Furniture Face Lift Kit, Howard's
Restor-A-Finish. Any thoughts about these products? What about tung
oil- would tung oil by itself do the trick or would I need to apply
something first before putting on tung oil? Any other ideas?

3) There are some places where the finish is missing (for example,
lookat the 5th image). What's a good way to touch up those parts?

4) Is it possible to clean the hammers without damaging them, or should

I just leave them dirty? I already tried to vacuum the top surface. of
the hammers.

Thanks for any suggestions.


I refinished an old piano that looked like yours except it had been painted
an ugly cream color. I'd go easy with sandpaper. the panels are plywood
with a thin veneer. Formby's works by disolving the old lacquer finish.
You may or may not like the results. Try it on one panel. If you're not
happy you'll probably end up stripping it anyway. I used a paste type paint
remover and steel wool. Practically everything but the basic frame can be
disassembled with a screwdriver.

I wouldn't mess with the hammers. You might affect the way it plays. No
one will see them anyway. Check all the glue joints in the wood mechanism.
Some of mine were loose and had to be re-glued.

Good luck with it.

Don

wrote:
I bought a 1921 Bell upright piano at an estate auction for $300 (Bell
was a Canadian company that made very good quality uprights).

Mechanically, it seems to be in excellent shape. However, the finish
is in bad shape- dirty, dull, and cracked (looks like reptile skin).
The hammers
are also dirty from eighty years of dust.

You can see pictures at:

http://www.math.uwaterloo.ca/~mrubinst/piano/index.html

Here are my questions:

1) What should I use to clean all that grimy dirt (as in the 3rd and
4th images) without further damaging the finish?

2) How can I restore the finish without stripping the current finish
off. I'd like to just wipe something on that will make it look nice and

get rid of the cracks, as in the 6th image. Searching around on the web

I came across: Fromby's Furniture Face Lift Kit, Howard's
Restor-A-Finish. Any thoughts about these products? What about tung
oil- would tung oil by itself do the trick or would I need to apply
something first before putting on tung oil? Any other ideas?

3) There are some places where the finish is missing (for example,
lookat the 5th image). What's a good way to touch up those parts?

4) Is it possible to clean the hammers without damaging them, or should

I just leave them dirty? I already tried to vacuum the top surface. of
the hammers.

Thanks for any suggestions.

The first two products are probably ok, don't use
tung oil.

For the missing finish spots and the cracks you
use shellac sticks but that takes a lot of skill
and experience. There are books on how to use it.

To clean the hammers just blow them with a
compressor. In fact, the whole inside of the
piano should probably be blown out, just be
careful when you do it. If the hammers are really
worn you might want to recover them with new felt,
but if the sound is ok, forget it.

On 21 Jun 2006 20:30:32 -0700, wrote:

I bought a 1921 Bell upright piano at an estate auction for $300 (Bell
was a Canadian company that made very good quality uprights).

Mechanically, it seems to be in excellent shape. However, the finish
is in bad shape- dirty, dull, and cracked (looks like reptile skin).
The hammers
are also dirty from eighty years of dust.

snip

You can very lightly sand the felt to clean it, adn the hammers if
they have hardened over time can be softened a bit by carefully
pricking the felt.