The Bridgeport evening farmer. [volume] (Bridgeport, Conn.) 1866-1917, 1911-02-13
WHY THINGS HIP.9cA TO
the ilIsa 0 Fl Il
Valuable In oruos +irn Con
corning Fesulia rlties Of
Highly Polished Surfaces
(Franklin Murphy. Jr)


Tn America mos people who buy
pianos want them finished with a hlSh
polish. Finely polished varn1sh de-
velops the beauty of fine wood. and
the smoothly finished panel seems TO
show hills and deep valleys in curv-
and wants is superb wood with It's
wonderful tracerys and net work OF
fibres brought out to the greatest ad-
vantage
This article will try to show how
the polish is secured and why it is
Varnish is a combination Of eopal
gum and drying oil. with tureptine as
a thinner Copal gum is fossil resin.
1t is like amber. only centuries young
err. 1t is, brittle like amber Copal
gum gives hardness TO varnish and in
general the harder the varnish. the
better it will polish: but brittleness
goes with hardness. and cracking
sometimes goes with brittleness.
oil gives elasticity and cohesiveness;
the more oil the less liability to crack.
but the polish may die away. sinking
in is the trade term. -
In general pianos are finished in the
following manner: The case is stained
and filled. if the wood requires 1T. then
four. or five coats of very thick varnisn
are put on Five to ten days are al
lowed between coats. depending on the
varnish used Each coat must be dry
through These coats are called the
bodying up coats. After the last one
is thoroughly dry. the case is rubbed
down with powdered pumice stone and
water. That is called coarse rubbing,
and the, effect sought is perfectly
smooth surface.
The next step is full bodied coat
of varnish: it is called the flowing
coat. Plenty of time is allowed Tor
this coat to dry-ten days or two
weeks.
When II is sufficiently dry. it is rub
bed down to a flat. dead finish with
pumice and water. left one day. then
rubbed again with finely powdered
with the bare hand; this polishing can
be done only by men of experience
who have hands suitable for the work.
The result is a polish of the most
brilliant character. resulting from the
several coats of varntsh which have
filled all the minute crevices OF the
wood with q transparent mass and
which has been brought to a mirror
like smoothness.
This polish Is particularly difficult to
secure in permanent form. A number
of blemishes may occur. the most
is the name, for the countless tiny
cracks which appear on highly polish
ed woodwork. Do not confuse 1t with
veneer checks or alligator cracks. The
underlying Is usually hardness and
brfttleness. ~
Remember that this varnish neces-
sarily dries very hard. Put a panel
finished like piano in the cold and
let It become thoroughly chilled; strike
the end Of the panel sharp blow with
a hammer. The beautifully polished
of tiny cracks. Drop it on the foo:
the result will be the same. Let =.
a ,aanel become quite warm by e V
:: room heated to eighty
at once to a Tempe
n below The va
with cold u;
- wood. =
.rsS cheek
{ it is ca
recai sudden shoot
der f?a = hi of old a"
piano it viii crack. pro
changes do the harm. H0;
ed into a cold tumbler ~ FL;
ice cold water poured iata
tumbler will probably crack it. The
reason a piano cross checks is the same
reason that a tumbler cracks.
Cross checking is the most common
trouble which comes to piano finish.
1t is the one trouble which can be
guarded against. but it cannot always
be prevented.
cracks. large irregular wavy cracks
due to too much varnish or too little
time for drying between coats. Veneer
checks: the veneer in it's most beauti-
full burls may split. In this case the
crack follows the pattern OF the grain
exactly Veneer checks cannot be
guarded against. The risk is part of
the price Of beautiful wood.
The trouble next in frequency to
cross checking is sinking in Piano
makers in their effort to escape cross
checking may use varnish that is
too elastic. and as it continues to
oxidize long after the piano is ship
ped, the polish dies away. Countless
little depressions can be seen, as If
the wood was absorbing the life Of the
varnish. Hence the name. sinking
in" Where sinking in occurs. the
piano looks dull and shabby to every
one who looks at it. but the polish can