Re: 1860's Rosewood piano

This isn't a bubble. The veneer at the seam is curled up about 1/4" to 5/16", and is loose on both sides to about 3/4" to 1" from the seam, over a substantial distance. The problem is that I can't get the veneer to soften up enough to uncurl without doing major damage to the existing finish.

I haven't started working on the finish on this part yet, obviously, but I'd like to get the veneer to lay down without making the finish restoration a lot tougher. The less you mess up, the less you have to fix. I had to take the finish completely off a few square feet on another piece, and building the finish up, coloring and blending it to seamlessly match the old finish, and building up all that thickness with a pad was a major chore.

The veneer is about 1/16" thick, and as I said before, the shellac finish is very thick for a French polish, but even after 140 years, it thas that look that only a French polish will give.

So far I've tried moist cloths and an iron, and a portable steamer. In both cases the shellac started to melt before the wood showed any sign of softening. I've done lots of veneering and veneer repairs, but I've never had thick veneer actually curl up from the substrate before. I have some ideas on how to proceed, but would like input from someone who has dealt with this situation before.