Stultz & Bauer piano

[EmilyClark]

We have just acquired a Stultz & Bauer Piano from our grandparents. We don't know anything about it and were wondering if anybody could help us out. The Serial number is 28546. It's an upright grand and is in reasonably good condition (except that it's been painted). We believe that it is made out of mahogany. Would it be worth stripping and restoring? Thanks!

[Bill Kibby]

The number suggests 1911...

[EmilyClark]

what would be the best way going about stripping the paint off the piano without damaging it?

[Bill Kibby]

Sorry, wood finishing is not my subject, ask your local DIY store, but any form of stripping will have to go back to the bare wood and start again.

[Tom Tuner]

Have your piano technician find out whether the piano is worth refinishing first. Then have him or her show you how to completely disassemble the case trimmings before proceeding. The coat of paint has undoubtedly seeped into the joints and glued all the case parts together. When you strip it the paint will bleed out of the cracks unless you take it apart. For one or more coats of enamel over varnish a heat gun is effective and economical for the preliminary removal, cleaning up with a chemical stripper. Remember that your finish will be no better than your preparations, so do a thorough job of that. Since mahagony is an open-pore wood you may have to apply grain filler to get a smooth finish. If you get the case very clean a brushing lacquer such as Deft is easy to apply and gives a good finish providing you seal the wood with a wash coat of white shellac. Take a look at a couple of books on refinishing to see what you are getting into. You will be surprized to find out just how much surface there is on a piano when you start stripping and refinishing one.

Tom

[Bill Kibby]

Absolutely right, and they are such large flat surfaces that most polishers cannot do them justice. Tom is also right about making sure the piano is worthwhile before restoring the polish. I went to a Georgian mansion years ago, security gates, CCTV, marble floors and hand-made wallpaper, they'd spend hundreds of pounds on polishing the piano, and it was a write-off!