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Re: Unstaining clarinets?

Author: L. Omar Henderson
Date: 2004-03-31 01:48

Alexi - my favorite comment - it depends. The quality of the work varies with the experience of the refinisher. I have seen very expensive antique furniture ruined by the hot solvent dipping process - definately stay away from dippers. The more experienced and expensive shops still use hand stripping with formulations unique to the refinisher. Many antiques loose value if refinished to remove the original finish or patina. Often these pieces are lightly cleaned to remove dirt alone or a special formulation is used to "consolidate" the original finish - not change it but soften the original finish to remove most cracking or peeling and clarify the finish.

Stain removal involves a stripper that is a solvent primarily for the stain and varies if the stain is mixed with a shellac or varnish or is an oil or water based stain. I gather that the horn that you want refinished is an Amati professional model. Amati uses a particular formulation which is a stain in a linseed oil base which is difficult to remove because the linseed oil is polymerized and the stain is a dispersed powder like lamp black. The applied stain on Amati horns I finally discovered is only removed with difficulty with a mixture of d-limolene and a tertiary alcohol in an oil based vehicle and lots of paper toweling to wipe off the dissolved stain. Once the bulk of the layer of stain is removed the color blending can be accomplished with conventional stripping formulations. The bells on Amati professional horns that I have worked on are Cocobolo wood and care must be used not to remove as much stain on the bell if the overall hue of the horn is to remain the same.

I hope that you have good luck.
The Doctor

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Unstaining clarinets? new

sfalexi

2004-03-26 15:04