Post by laoqinyou on May 17, 2007 21:50:06 GMT
Interesting web page Charlie. I'm going to put a link to it on a certain other web page.
Some points/thoughts:
1. Steve Dydo has suggested the use of mineral spirits with cashew as opposed to turpentine. It doesn't smell as bad. Haven't tried it with real lacquer. (I used turpentine in the 70's when I built 2 qin). I did try it with cashew and it
works fine.
2. re cashew again, one cannot make base out of it and shouldn't try. It won't combine with deer horn powder. It makes a mess (I have expert knowledge here). There is a substance that can be bought from Japan that is explicitly used as a base for cashew. I'm not sure if they advertise it though. It's wierd stuff but it can certainly be used to patch holes in qin. I think I prefer the original "tai/base" though with lacquer and deer horn powder. The cashew base is very hard indeed and I think it is harder than the traditional version, and it is hard to sand.
3. yuguzhai suggests using a brush for putting on tai. This is in case you are putting it on for an entire qin. A spatula works for small amounts.
4. finer grain sandpaper is commonly available in the US in auto parts stores, not in hardware stores. So you
can polish your qin and your Corvette.
Given there are about one million ways to tint finishes for wood working, I wonder if any of them would apply to real natural lacquer. Cinnabar e.g., is mercury and that is highly toxic. Maybe there is a less unsafe way to get some red lacquer?
Some points/thoughts:
1. Steve Dydo has suggested the use of mineral spirits with cashew as opposed to turpentine. It doesn't smell as bad. Haven't tried it with real lacquer. (I used turpentine in the 70's when I built 2 qin). I did try it with cashew and it
works fine.
2. re cashew again, one cannot make base out of it and shouldn't try. It won't combine with deer horn powder. It makes a mess (I have expert knowledge here). There is a substance that can be bought from Japan that is explicitly used as a base for cashew. I'm not sure if they advertise it though. It's wierd stuff but it can certainly be used to patch holes in qin. I think I prefer the original "tai/base" though with lacquer and deer horn powder. The cashew base is very hard indeed and I think it is harder than the traditional version, and it is hard to sand.
3. yuguzhai suggests using a brush for putting on tai. This is in case you are putting it on for an entire qin. A spatula works for small amounts.
4. finer grain sandpaper is commonly available in the US in auto parts stores, not in hardware stores. So you
can polish your qin and your Corvette.
Given there are about one million ways to tint finishes for wood working, I wonder if any of them would apply to real natural lacquer. Cinnabar e.g., is mercury and that is highly toxic. Maybe there is a less unsafe way to get some red lacquer?