Pioneer Elite AVR's Are coated with URUSHI! What is URUSHIT? Read BELOW!!!

Aldous_Huxley
Aldous_Huxley Posts: 76
edited January 2009 in Electronics
I dont know if this is the same urushi that was posted on my last post discussing the Pioneer ELITE flagship Reciever, but if it is, I looked up the term urushi on wikipedia and here is what came up....

is says that it is...

A caustic, toxic sap is tapped from the trunk of the Lacquer Tree to produce lacquer. This is done by slashing the trunk of a 10 year old tree horizontally 5-10 times, and then collecting the greyish yellow sap exuding from the wounds. The sap is then filtered, heat-treated, or coloured before applying onto a base material that is to be lacquered. This liquid is commonly called urushi. Curing the applied sap requires "drying" it in a warm, humid chamber or closet for 12 to 24 hours where the urushiol polymerizes to form a clear, hard, and waterproof surface. In its liquid state, urushi can cause extreme rashes, even from vapours. Once hardened, urushi reactions are possible but less common.
Products coated with urushi are recognizable by an extremely durable and glossy finish. Urushi lacquer has more applications than could be listed here, but common uses include tableware, musical instruments (especially shakuhachi bores and taiko), fountain pens, jewellery, and yumi. With Wajima-nuri at the head of the list, there are various types of urushiware. The cinnabar-red of Wagae-nuri is highly regarded and has gained a worldwide reputation, with a standing exhibit at the National Gallery of Victoria. Unpigmented urushi is dark brown but the most common colors of urushi finishes are black and red, from powdered pigments of iron and ferric oxide, respectively. Urushi is painted on with a brush and is cured in a warm and humid environment.
Artistic application and decoration of urushi can be a long process, requiring many hours or days of careful and repetitive layers and drying times. The creation of a single piece of urushi art, such as a bowl or a fountain pen, may take weeks to months to complete.

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