Hammond Organ/Bench Walnut Finish?

[Dave Fifield]

Hi Finishing Experts,

This is my first post to the finishing forum (hi! ). I haven't been in the position (time-wise) to actually finish any big projects for a while, but it looks like I'm close to it on this one at last! For me, finishing is one of the most difficult parts of any woodworking project. I need some help/advice to get this project done right......so I hope I have come to the right place!?

I have been restoring a 1947 Hammond BV organ. I found it in a thrift store. It is now clean and I have it working very well (I tell people "It's 10 years older me and in better shape!"), but the finish is pretty bad in places. Here's a photo of it (sorry about the focus). Pedals are behind it at the moment.



It didn't have a bench seat with it, so thanks to some photos (online and from a nice fellow called Byron who makes replicas of Hammond things), I have made my own version in solid walnut - it's not an exact copy, but it's close enough (for me). Here's a picture of it - it just needs sanding and some lid stays adding before doing the finish....that's where you guys come in!



I would like to know a) how to repair the original finish on the organ as invisibly as possible, and b) how to finish my new walnut bench seat so that it looks as close as possible to the orginal organ finish. Does anybody know what the stain/finish on the old Hammond organ was? If forced to guess, I'd say it was some kind of oil-based stain with shellac over, but I'm no expert and I wasn't around in 1947!

Can anyone help?

Cheers,
Dave Fifield

[Vaughn McMillan]

Dave, I don't know the answer for the finish, but I did want to compliment you on the bench. Had you not mentioned it, I'd never suspect it wasn't an exact copy of the original. Did you turn the spindle legs or buy them pre-made?

For the finish, you might try contacting some piano repair shops to see what finishes were commonly used back when your Hammond was built. (I'd suspect lacquer instead of shellac, but I have nothing to base that suspicion on.) You probably already know this, but the walnut will likely darken a bit when you get the first coat of oil-based finish on it. In fact, using some scrap pieces you might see how closely the walnut matches the original organ finish with a coat of BLO instead of stain. (Followed up with some type of clear coat...as I said, I'd guess lacquer.)

Hopefully someone who knows more than I do will chime in here and show you how little I really know.

- Vaughn

[Dave Fifield]

Hi Vaughn, thanks for your reply and the compliment. I turned the legs myself....twice!....on my Nova lathe. The first set were too long, they were nothing alike, and they were pretty shoddily turned with huge skew catches out of them. I called them my "practice set" and bought some more wood ....I kinda wish I'd practiced on some pine instead of expensive walnut!

I am going to try asking on some of the Hammond Organ forums and email lists to see if anyone there knows what the finish was. I think you are right: other people have told me (today, offline) that they think it's more likely to be lacquer than shellac.

I have plenty of scraps ( ) to try the finish on. I purchased a couple of walnut oil-based stains and have several different lacquers and shellac to try. I'll give it a go this weekend and see how I get on with the samples. I'd still really like to hear from someone who *knows* what the right finish is though!

Oh, what is "BLO" (boiled linseed oil?)?? I see this TLA being bandied about everywhere and even though I've been doing woodworking for quite a few years, I can't work out what BLO stands for!

Cheers,
Dave F.

[Don Baer]

Dave,
Can't help you on the finish but BLO is Boiled linseed oil. It is used to make the grain "POP".

Good luck a nd I will be looking to see how the finished piece turnes out.

db

[John Anderson]

Good looking job! As others have said, practice on scrap wood and see if you can find a match. Don't know about organs, but I think most if not all pianos have a lacquer finish.

"BLO" = Boiled Linseed Oil, main ingredient in most oil finishes.

Again, good looking job...

[Vaughn McMillan]

Dave, here's the master SMC Acronym List. It answered a lot of questions for me the first few months I started hanging around this joint:

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=27040

You can find it later by plugging "acronym" into the search feature. It's pretty complete, but every once in a while a new TLA shows up.

Sorry to hear you got the unintended practice on the legs, but the end result looks great.

- Vaughn

[Bob Winkler]

Hi Dave,

Great job on the bench, and the organ sounds like a great find .

Although I'm no expert at finishes, I have viewed a video by Bob Flexner on repairing finishes. I got it from my local library. I like watching videos while on the treadmill. He covers repairs to finishes as an alternative to stripping. I think it was produced by Taunton and was called "Furnirure Refinishing" or something like that.

Good luck,
Bob

[Dave Fifield]

Thanks Guys!

I didn't know about the SMCAL ( ), thanks Vaughn, I'll be sure to check it out. Also will try and find a copy of that finishing repair video Bob, thanks!

I've only tried tung oil and Danish oil before, not tried BLO I'll get some and try it and some other finishes on the scrap wood this weekend. I'm sure I'll be able to come up with a reasonable facsimille of the original finish. When I do, I'll post it here in case others have the same need in the future.

Cheers,
Dave Fifield

[Jim Becker]

Dave, practice on scrap. Remember, the end result is a combination of the oil and whatever you top coat it with...

You also want to be careful relative to what you do with the finish on the organ, depending on your purpose. If you are restoring to sell/as an investment, then be more circumspect. If for your own enjoyment (a wonderful instrument, by the way) go as far as you want to.

[Dave Fifield]

The results are in! I did a whole bunch of test finishes on the scrap wood and found one that is almost identical to the original Hammond Organ finish. I tried the following bare wood treatments:

BLO
Walnut stain
Tung Oil
Amber Shellac

- with combinations of the following top-finishes:

Amber Shellac
Min-Wax Wipe-On Poly
Waterlox Marine Varnish
Lacquer

- and the winner is......... three thin coats of BLO with three thin coats of lacquer over. Simple!!

I will apply this finish to the bench over the next week - should be all finished by next weekend. Pictures to follow. Thanks for your suggestions guys!

Cheers,
Dave Fifield