The Golden State: Where & How to Live, Secure, Visit, Enjoy and Thrive in California

Furniture Finishing

HAND POLISHING

Take two pieces of felt, cut 3x5, and one-fourth inch thick, place them together and soak with water and lay in a flat dish containing very little water. Rub rottenstone slush from the glass on the felt. Slap the hands on this felt hard and rub the surface across the grain until the scratches from the rottenstone disappear and then rub with the palm of the hands with the grain until a mirror-like finish is obtained. The hands must be quite damp at first, but almost dry for the finish rubbing. One must have hands free from callous spots to do good polishing and this can be obtained by rubbing the hands on a pumice stone brick with water. The piano is then oiled off with lemon oil palish and then spirited off with a rag dampened with alcohol and wrung out until it will not leave a freezing sensation to the face when applied. It is not safe to apply an alcohol rag to the finish, if this condition can be noticed. Of course it is understood that the oil is first wiped off with a rag, being careful that none of the rottenstone has been left in corners. After cleaning off, the alcohol rag sufficiently dry is used, and the surface is cleaned taking up the oil. It is frequently necessary to use a second alcohol rag in order to be sure all the oil has been removed.

SATIN FINISH

The flow coat is rubbed with FF pumice stone and water with a woven felt pad. This slush is then cleaned off and dried. Then flood the surface with a mixture of lemon oil polish and benzine and FFF pumice sifted on the surface with a sack or perforated shaker.

One must be careful to get the pumice stone evenly distributed over the surface and have enough oil on the surface to saturate the pumice. This mixture should form a slush on the surface. Wipe this slush off with the grain and continue to wipe dry afterward with clean cloths. This will produce a most beautiful satin finish.

Many machines have been designed for rubbing and can be used largely for coarse rubbing and even for fine rubbing where they are handled with accuracy.

Waterproof garnet paper, to some extent, has taken the place of pumice stone for fine rubbing, but piano factories are slow to change a system that has taken years to develop and perfect. Good work can be done with this paper, if properly handled, and it will cut faster than the pumice with a great deal less cleaning off after using.