Piano finish

[Tom Smit]

I just couldn't get over the T18? picture by cecaa850.
How was this accomplished? I just recently tried, was frustrated, but ended with something that looked OK. (I had put on about 9 coats of polyurethane, sanding every third coat or so. It didn't seem to look like I wanted, so I put several coats of Laquer on top.)

[Dan30]

Requires the patience of a monk. I'd personally just try to find some sort of adhesive finish and glue it on. It's good enough for Ikea.

[Slim]

I don't know about patience, but the right tools and materials would help a lot. I'm guessing it would have some sort of high fill primer, maybe primed and sanded a couple of times, then a basecoat of darker and harder stuff, more sanding, maybe repeat, and topcoat, sand and cut and polish. All but the final couple of sandings could be done by machine. Polishing is done by machine, then a hand glaze gets out the swirl marks. Disclaimer: I could be totally wrong! My painting experience is based on marine and automotive.

Black's a hard colour to do, and that is an excellent finish on that box. Looks awesome.

[Frederic Gelinas]

Google is your friend. You will find many different technique and products to get a nice piano finish. They all require lots of patience.

[Radian]

I just couldn't get over the T18?

His T18 was finished at a collision repair shop with automotive paint.

Sorry to hear about your woes with polyurethane. I can relate. My wounds are still fresh.

[lincsoldbird]

Hi in the UK we have piano lacuer a 2k product, first spray with black base coat then laquer on top, then wet flat with wet and dry paper on a block untill you get down to 2000 grit then polish with auto cutting compound. Comes up like glass.

[Grant Bunter]

Tom,
I agree, that particular finish is astounding!

Generally I take my hat off to the auto guys, you can paint anything it seems.

I was given a 1972 Pearl drum kit a few years back. It was wrapped and the wrap was shot, so I decided to paint it.
While black is the hardest, any high gloss finishes, as you know, are a right pain.
90% of your finish is prepping the underlying surface and takes 90% of the time. The remaining 10% takes the other 90% of time (Think about it guys before you tell me my maths is out, it's an old saying).

I had to grain fill the (very open grained luan) 9 ply wood shells 3 times before they were blemish free. Then colour base coat.

7 coats of clear after that. Each coat left to totally dry and then sanded with 800 grit between coats one to four, then 1200 grit after coats 4 and 5, then 1500-2000 grit after coat six. Since I sprayed the clear you need to go finer and finer with your grit count to get rid of "orange peel"
5 coats did not seem to have enough depth.

Before:


After, but not buffed:



My prior experience as a painter/refinisher: zero. Though I do have plenty of experience restoring antique furniture.

So, it may seem beyond us mere mortals, but have a try sometime, it's very rewarding

[Scott Brochu]

Nicely done Grant!

[Drey Chennells]

[Grant Bunter]

Apologies Tom,
This wasn't to derail the thread, rather to show a complete novice can achieve such a finish.

Thanks Scott and Drey...

[Tom Smit]

No problems, Grant. The discussion is about piano finish, so it's cool.

[LouC]

Polyurethane is not the easiest product to polish out. Lacquers or water based acrylics are much easier to work with. Poly is typically a "friction" finish mechanically bonding to the layer below. "Dissolving" or "crosslink" topcoats actually dissolve the layer beneath, so your coating is one thick layer -- not a bunch of thin ones. A bit softer too. I worked in a piano restoration shop for awhile, good results take a lot of work, wet sanding, buffing, cleaning.

If you want a solid shiny finish, nothing easier than formica style laminate.