08-13-2024, 02:53 AM
This may be irrelevant for different wood finishes from even longer ago, but maybe useful to research.
Back in 1988 a friend who did musical instrument repairs & restorations for museums including the Henry Ford Museum did some work on a 1956 guitar for me that had a nitrocellulose lacquer finish. It was dull gray from being in a smoker's home and not in a case.
He told me to use two specific kinds of automotive polishing compounds, which of course now I don't remember, and don't need, but I think they were DuPont because his wife was a salesperson for DuPont. He also knew which products were transitioning to aqueous base and why he cared. I don't remember that either, except that worked on the extra finish layer that was impervious to whatever lame guitar polish I tried.
Silicates question:
Not trying to be insulting, but silicates and silicones are only barely related to each other in being extremely different chemicals based on the chemical element Silicon. I think silicones are organic compounds and in general are dreaded by woodworkers and finishing departments of any surface, be it wood or metal. Silicones migrate and can contaminate surfaces/substrates so coatings in a factory don't adhere properly. A place I worked prohibited the yellow silicone Lance Armstrong Live Strong wristbands and every other variant that came out. The person who was crusading against it changed jobs and nobody remembered why there was an obsession over it and every one forgot as far as I know...because there was no training, communication or enforcement. So I think all the coatings and finishes kept working, and I know they evolved for other safety reasons like away from chromates and VOC's (more toward aqueous/waterborne types).
Silicates are inorganic mineral compounds that can be glass- or sand-like and are rough on cutting and sanding tools, and lungs (silicosis and other respiratory ailments). They are found in several commerce woods, possibly the really hard, dense ones. They often require carbide tools to keep a sharp edge for very long, and are a serious driver for proper PPE/Personal Protective Equipment and employer liability.
I had access to people with material science and chemical engineering backgrounds and always tried to figure out compatibility. All I ever got were certain answers about validated combinations and only opinions and discouragement over their uncertainty. It was often for personal use and I had to roll the dice myself, with both acceptable results and some horrible ones I would never do again. There are SO many unknowns.
I had a friend who was a coatings and adhesives expert with a career spanning three different industries. When people asked her what she did, she'd say 'I watch paint & glue dry'.
Murray
Back in 1988 a friend who did musical instrument repairs & restorations for museums including the Henry Ford Museum did some work on a 1956 guitar for me that had a nitrocellulose lacquer finish. It was dull gray from being in a smoker's home and not in a case.
He told me to use two specific kinds of automotive polishing compounds, which of course now I don't remember, and don't need, but I think they were DuPont because his wife was a salesperson for DuPont. He also knew which products were transitioning to aqueous base and why he cared. I don't remember that either, except that worked on the extra finish layer that was impervious to whatever lame guitar polish I tried.
Silicates question:
Not trying to be insulting, but silicates and silicones are only barely related to each other in being extremely different chemicals based on the chemical element Silicon. I think silicones are organic compounds and in general are dreaded by woodworkers and finishing departments of any surface, be it wood or metal. Silicones migrate and can contaminate surfaces/substrates so coatings in a factory don't adhere properly. A place I worked prohibited the yellow silicone Lance Armstrong Live Strong wristbands and every other variant that came out. The person who was crusading against it changed jobs and nobody remembered why there was an obsession over it and every one forgot as far as I know...because there was no training, communication or enforcement. So I think all the coatings and finishes kept working, and I know they evolved for other safety reasons like away from chromates and VOC's (more toward aqueous/waterborne types).
Silicates are inorganic mineral compounds that can be glass- or sand-like and are rough on cutting and sanding tools, and lungs (silicosis and other respiratory ailments). They are found in several commerce woods, possibly the really hard, dense ones. They often require carbide tools to keep a sharp edge for very long, and are a serious driver for proper PPE/Personal Protective Equipment and employer liability.
I had access to people with material science and chemical engineering backgrounds and always tried to figure out compatibility. All I ever got were certain answers about validated combinations and only opinions and discouragement over their uncertainty. It was often for personal use and I had to roll the dice myself, with both acceptable results and some horrible ones I would never do again. There are SO many unknowns.
I had a friend who was a coatings and adhesives expert with a career spanning three different industries. When people asked her what she did, she'd say 'I watch paint & glue dry'.
Murray
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