OldTools Archive

Recent Bios FAQ

272523 Dave T <dwtardiff13@g...> 2021‑01‑10 Re: Scrapping a piano tomorrow
I just salvaged an old upright recently, by the side of the road.
It was just sitting there at the edge of a dirt road when I drove by, a
little away from a house.  I stopped to look at it, then went on my way.
On my return trip, a FREE sign had been added, so I returned with a few
tools and went to work.  Pianos are built for service, so most of the parts
come off pretty easily, even without tools.  I removed all the covers,
doors, keys, etc, including the large heavy casters on the bottom. I
dismantled all that I could, and only missed out on the soundboard (great
wood, 100 years later?  Why not?) because many of the very large flathead
screws attaching the harp to it were underneath strings, and I hadn't come
prepared to cut or remove the taught string wires.  I did take as many of
the large wooden chunks that I could remove, and so far it's all just piled
up in the garage.  I did remove a few of the ivory key tops as a test, but
haven't cut into the black keys yet to verify ebony or not.  Even the keys
themselves are quite good wood, the black parts are glued on, so they could
be ebony....

From the research I did, if the keys are in multiple parts, they're ivory,
as the plastic versions are one L-shaped veneer.

Recent Bios FAQ