I've made the black paint from cracked Alma Gluck records and it
does work!  It's very black, very flat and dries quickly.  The records
need to be smashed up as small as you can as it helps them to dissolve.
It helps to keep the jar in a warm place as well.

It still can take several weeks for it to dissolve.  Shaking the jar
once in a while when you think of it helps as well.  It needs to be
strained then.  I force it through an old sheer curtain wearing rubber
gloves.  You can add shellac to it to get more shine out of it.

It's a great match for the paint that was used on the backs of some
pump organs and on the bottoms of some pianos.  One coat usually does
cover, I will say that about it!

My brother made some when he was out in California and then dropped the
jar on the driveway.  Three years later the driveway was still pitch
black, so it apparently doesn't fade much.

I would think though, that there is an easier way to come up with black
paint like that.  The carbon black, or maybe even soot, in shellac
would probably do the same thing and be a lot easier to color the
shellac with.

I think the paint that they used on the player piano action stacks is
what they used to call "Japan".  That's what was used on the phonograph
horns and they are glossy. The old guy that I used to paint for is gone
now, so I can't ask him.  He worked for the Packard motor company back
in the 1920's and 30's graining dashboards, and then he was a house painter
into his 80's.  Bill knew all about that sort of thing.

The paint they called "Japan Black" was probably shellac based as well,
it doesn't seem to take a whole lot to loosen what's on those old black
phonograph horns.  Strange how things like that can get lost to
history...

Good luck on that one.
Earl Hennagir

 [ I believe "Japan Black" is an oil base containing asphaltum, whereas
 [ "Spirit Black" is dye and shellac thinned with alcohol.  -- Robbie