When rebuilding components of a player stack, it is often necessary to
refinish the pneumatic boards or other components.  I will sand them,
seal with shellac, level with a well-sharpened cabinet scraper, and
coat with canned spray gloss lacquer (I am not equipped with commercial
spray equipment).  If the high gloss is not desired, I buff with OOOO
steel wood a few days after spraying.

Were these components originally finished with lacquer or a black
shellac product?  Is something like that available today?  Sometimes
when using burnt shellac to seal pneumatic fingers on wind motors or
other items I have thought that it would bond best to a shellac-based
product.  Is it best to use a black shellac and how does one make this?
Some comments about how you experts routinely do this would be much
appreciated.

Joel Cluskey - Cluskey's Piano Works
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania