View Full Version : Does anyone know what finish this would be???
hisdudnes
20th May 2011, 01:46 PM
Hey guys, i'm looking to replicate this finish but i'm not exactly sure what it is.
This particular finish is from 1968 if that helps?
hisdudnes
20th May 2011, 09:37 PM
any thoughts???
China
20th May 2011, 10:34 PM
lacquer
pugwash
21st May 2011, 01:10 AM
Try the musical instrument forum.
AlexS
21st May 2011, 01:49 PM
Possibly shellac, maybe blonde shellac. Put a little bit of metho in a rag and apply it to an inconspicuous are of the finish. If it goes tacky it's shellac. You can clean shellac off using metho, steel wool and lots of paper towels.
ubeaut
23rd May 2011, 02:27 AM
Which finish? Inside the drum or the outside? If the outside a better picture might help. Inside is probably a nitrocellulose lacquer or shellac.
:U
hisdudnes
5th June 2011, 09:59 PM
yeah thats what i was thinking. ubeaut
the other day i was practising. and i noticed that a little bit of methylated spirits on a rag did NOT do anything to the interior finish. I tried rubbing moderately firmly for about 30 seconds and it did NOTHING. The rag did not start sticking or dragging or changing the way it moved over the area. Additionally, whatever finish it is did not look, or feel different after the methylated spirits had evaporated away.
Does this mean, that it is very unlikely to be either shellac or a lacquer? so my main questions is:
Is there any way to confirm that a finish is polyurethane?
timelord
5th June 2011, 10:11 PM
If metho did not affect then the finish will more than likely be laquer as metho will not effect laquer.
Its not likely to be polyurethane as most musical instruments have a laquer finish.
hisdudnes
7th June 2011, 12:42 PM
Ahhhh!
Ive read that metho does affect lacquer (i.e that it lossens it) and now that lacquer doesnt affect it!
Is there some way that i can differenciate between a polyurethane finish and a lacquer finish?
(the hayman drum company from tge 60s used 5 coats of polyurethane on the interiors of their drums.)
BamBam53
7th June 2011, 08:58 PM
Lacquer thinner will probably help you tell the difference.
If the finish is lacquer it will soften with lacquer thinner.
There are two types of polyurethane.
If it is two pack polyurethane, lacquer thinner should not affect it.
The other polyurethane is a urethane modified alkyd like you would buy in a hardware store. This will probably swell and wrinke with lacquer thinner.
brunswick1075
14th June 2011, 12:55 PM
My guess is a nitrocellulose lacquer...