When Brandon's Great Grandmother passed away now one needed a piano but us. At the time we lived in Nashville so it was moved from Southern California to Syracuse, UT where it sat in storage for about 3 year until we finished our basement and had a place to put it. While the sound was pretty good for a really old piano the finish was NOT, as you can see.
We were going to refinish it soon but then decided to wait until the kids are little older and they will be nicer to it. For example: not "wash" the bench with baby wipes. Then our job got to be less than we wanted and we might end up moving and decided it might be easier to sell with a nicer looking piano, plus Brandon's mom has done a few of these and was here to help. So we (meaning Brandon since refinishing piano chemicals not so great for pregnant women) decided to get it done. Once we pulled the piano apart we realized it turned 100 this year so it was a good birthday present. Even better we found out that the piano was in amazing shape on the inside. Apparently, for the last 50 years it just sat in Brandon's grandfather's sister's home and wasn't played.
We are in the middle of the project. Currently this is what is standing in my living room right now, except the keys (shown on the floor in the lower left of the photo) are now all repaired, cleaned, and repainted (black keys) and put back in. For the most part the kids are staying away from the piano. They tried to play it like a harp and found out that didn't make mom very happy.
We are in the middle of the project. Currently this is what is standing in my living room right now, except the keys (shown on the floor in the lower left of the photo) are now all repaired, cleaned, and repainted (black keys) and put back in. For the most part the kids are staying away from the piano. They tried to play it like a harp and found out that didn't make mom very happy.
Since it is so old the keys are ivory and we had all but four of the ivory for the keys. After a bit of searching we found someone in our ward that tunes pianos and collects the ivory from the pianos that had to replace it with plastic keys, and then uses it to repair ivory on others. Since you really aren't suppose to buy ivory he gave us the 4 pieces so our piano keys look about as new as 100 year old keys can.
Brandon has now stripped the paint from all the removable pieces and the bench and just has to do the frame. He decided to complete the bench in its entirety before he starts on that "fun" project.
Brandon has now stripped the paint from all the removable pieces and the bench and just has to do the frame. He decided to complete the bench in its entirety before he starts on that "fun" project.
2 comments:
AWESOME!!!!
I want a piano so bad! My kids ask Santa for one for me every year, but I guess I'm not good enough through the year to deserve one.
Wow Brandon, not only an engineer but one that enjoys toxic chemicals. For the sake of your son-to-be, I hope you stripped & refinished it in the garage, or at least not in the house.
Sounds like a great project & one that will be appreciated for quite a while. Good luck!
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