Does anyone know what finish this would be???

[hisdudnes]

Hey guys, i'm looking to replicate this finish but i'm not exactly sure what it is.
This particular finish is from 1968 if that helps?

[hisdudnes]

any thoughts???

[China]

lacquer

[pugwash]

Try the musical instrument forum.

[AlexS]

Possibly shellac, maybe blonde shellac. Put a little bit of metho in a rag and apply it to an inconspicuous are of the finish. If it goes tacky it's shellac. You can clean shellac off using metho, steel wool and lots of paper towels.

[ubeaut]

Which finish? Inside the drum or the outside? If the outside a better picture might help. Inside is probably a nitrocellulose lacquer or shellac.

[hisdudnes]

yeah thats what i was thinking. ubeaut

the other day i was practising. and i noticed that a little bit of methylated spirits on a rag did NOT do anything to the interior finish. I tried rubbing moderately firmly for about 30 seconds and it did NOTHING. The rag did not start sticking or dragging or changing the way it moved over the area. Additionally, whatever finish it is did not look, or feel different after the methylated spirits had evaporated away.

Does this mean, that it is very unlikely to be either shellac or a lacquer? so my main questions is:

Is there any way to confirm that a finish is polyurethane?

[timelord]

If metho did not affect then the finish will more than likely be laquer as metho will not effect laquer.
Its not likely to be polyurethane as most musical instruments have a laquer finish.

[hisdudnes]

Ahhhh!

Ive read that metho does affect lacquer (i.e that it lossens it) and now that lacquer doesnt affect it!

Is there some way that i can differenciate between a polyurethane finish and a lacquer finish?

(the hayman drum company from tge 60s used 5 coats of polyurethane on the interiors of their drums.)

[BamBam53]

Lacquer thinner will probably help you tell the difference.

If the finish is lacquer it will soften with lacquer thinner.

There are two types of polyurethane.
If it is two pack polyurethane, lacquer thinner should not affect it.

The other polyurethane is a urethane modified alkyd like you would buy in a hardware store. This will probably swell and wrinke with lacquer thinner.

[brunswick1075]

My guess is a nitrocellulose lacquer...