Ok, now this is what we've done. TY helped me get a second pass with a finer grit. I filled all the dings and holes. I taped off the white or "natural" keys and carefully sanded down the black or "sharp" keys. I stained them with ebony stain, let that dry, stained again, let that dry and on and on for several days. Then I sprayed a million light coats of lacquer. The sharps turned out nice, but I would have liked it if they were a bit shinier. So, I got a different lacquer and tried again. Several light passes. It just seemed to apply in these spotty, crackly layers. So out of frustration I just lacquered the heck out of it and hoped I didn't ruin it..............eeeee..............I think they look nice. Phew!
All of the keytops looked like this you see. I am sure some lovely child found his father's pliers and "fixed" the piano keys. So I wanted to replace them. I figured out how to get the keys out. This is big. I removed all the keys and carefully peeled off the old white key tops. For this I used a sharp knife and my iron. Iron the key, then when it's good and hot, slice off the key top. Yikes!
The key fronts however, were a totally different animal. This is how they looked after lots of ironing and slicing. No good. I considered leaving them on and just putting the new keytops over them. That however, seemed like they were beating me and I didn't want to be beaten. I took all my keys down to Dad's shop and TY sanded them off for me like the good hubby that he is.
He also added some plant-on panel moldings that look awesome! It is not easy to get exact mitered corners, but he is meticulous! It looks great! And we had fun in the shop together...........right?!? Right. The next big job was selecting the paint color. We brought home 30 some odd colors of very light gray, narrowed that right down to a few and then stewed for a few more days. Are you beginning to wonder about me? Can't I just get a project done already? I know, but this is one of those projects I am not willing to rush through. Now, after weeks of work, you can see how nervous I am to paint. Ahhh! Oh, and I ordered my new keytops this morning. Wooo hooo! I'm on a roll.
