Sympathetic resto burl walnut

Hi guys,

My wife has just bought a piano made in 1911 which is veneered in french polished burl walnut. The veneer itself is in good condition with no stains, bubbles or cracks and I'd prefer to just clean it up and polish it, rather than looking at a complete proper french polish.

Can anyone suggest the safest and best way to clean it up without damaging it? And possibly a good product to put a decent polish on it?

A piano guy said to use a cloth pad with metho by hand but warned of 'burning' it. Another has suggested turps on 0000 steel wool and then linseed oil on a 000 pad.

Basically there is just years of grime built up on it from not being cleaned.

Cheers and thanks

Stuey

Ahhh, well, I'll just grab some Polish Reviver from Timbecon and have a go with that.

clean it with the linseed, turps mix.
another easy cheap cleaner is 4 parts veg oil, 4 parts vinegar, 2 parts meths and 1000grit paper, (dont use steelwool cos the SW reacts with the vinager and may turn bald wood black) do a little section (about 30cm sq) at a time. the mix rubbed with the grain will emulsify a bit like dirty maionaise. let it sit for about 5 mins then wipe off.
dont leave the mix on for more than this or the meths might eat the polish.

when its all cleaned wash of the oil a bit at a time with weak soap and water, and dry each section as you go, again, dont leave it wet or the water will whiten the original polish.
let the whole thing dry 24 hours then wax with a quality bees wax furniture polish.

Trouble is lovely old pianos have no value, so unless i's a truely superior instrument, i'ts not cost effective to have it re polished unless its sentimental value.
Anyone want a one owner lagonda, circa 1910 crap finish lovely sound ?:smile

astrid

Thanks Astrid. Unfortunately I've already ordered U-Beaut's Polish Reviver; a local Perth firm Timbecon sells it. I believe it has turps and apple cider vinegar in it, among other things.

As for value, we just bought this from an estate sale for $500 and it's been valued at both $700 and $500 so it's not worth much. It's an old Fritz Kuhla from Berlin. In fact when the piano tuner was here he found a date in lead pencil inside of July 21,1912, so my 1911 was just out. There was other pencilled writing in German as well. Kinda makes you nostalgic when you see the craftsmen's handwriting inside on the parts, written before WWI.

It has a small crack in the soundboard (can't hear it) and some very minor carpet beetle damage to the felt inside, but it plays OK - just for my wife to play around with. I'll be able to bring it back to good condition with some wool felt. We like it, anyway - it's not an investment (except in enjoyment). We do like that we're only the second owner...

Thanks again for the tips. I'll combine your procedural tips with the Polish Reviver as a substitute for the mix you suggest and see how that goes.

One thing; the 1000 grit - is wet or dry what you mean (carborundum)? I have 1000, 1200 and 1500 in this paper.

Cheers

Stuey

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Stuey63

Thanks Astrid. Unfortunately I've already ordered U-Beaut's Polish Reviver; a local Perth firm Timbecon sells it. I believe it has turps and apple cider vinegar in it, among other things.

As for value, we just bought this from an estate sale for $500 and it's been valued at both $700 and $500 so it's not worth much. It's an old Fritz Kuhla from Berlin. In fact when the piano tuner was here he found a date in lead pencil inside of July 21,1912, so my 1911 was just out. There was other pencilled writing in German as well. Kinda makes you nostalgic when you see the craftsmen's handwriting inside on the parts, written before WWI.

It has a small crack in the soundboard (can't hear it) and some very minor carpet beetle damage to the felt inside, but it plays OK - just for my wife to play around with. I'll be able to bring it back to good condition with some wool felt. We like it, anyway - it's not an investment (except in enjoyment). We do like that we're only the second owner...

Thanks again for the tips. I'll combine your procedural tips with the Polish Reviver as a substitute for the mix you suggest and see how that goes.

One thing; the 1000 grit - is wet or dry what you mean (carborundum)? I have 1000, 1200 and 1500 in this paper.

Cheers

Stuey

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wet or dry dont really matter, your only using it to genlly abrade the dirt without damaging the polish underneath,
have fun

Astrid