What to do what to do!

webbost · Post by **webbost** » 28 Mar 2008, 20:02

Hello,

First post on this forum so hello to everyone, my name is nathan and im from Leicester, UK.

Now to the reason I have registered. I have an old piano which was given to me by an old lady in her will, however the years, the piano has became very damaged and scratched.

I am interested in refinishing it (and fixing the parts that have worn away etc), but I am not within a budget to pay someone to do it, so I figured it would be a nice project for me to do it myself.

Trouble is, I have never done it before, and cant honestly say I would know where to start.

What do I need to consider if I want to do this? What tools / chemicals will I need?

I have included some pictures below so that you can see what state the piano is in now. The only thing I have for the piano right now is some Liberon Black Bison Fine paste wax (Victorian Mahogony)

Please let me know what I am stepping into here, how long I should expect the project to take and what tools / chemicals i need!

Thanks

webbost · Post by **webbost** » 28 Mar 2008, 20:18

Also if there are any experts out there, it would be nice to know when the piano was built, what an estimated value would be for it at the minute, and an estimated value of it if it was refinished or refurbished!

jackg · Post by **jackg** » 28 Mar 2008, 21:18

It is worth very little, 50 pence or a muppet may buy it on ebay for £1.50 and have to pay for it to be moved. It is not a reknown make. Ask your local piano shop for an assessment. What ever you spend on it you will lose. Tune it and play it if you like the sound.

webbost · Post by **webbost** » 28 Mar 2008, 21:48

jackg wrote:It is worth very little, 50 pence or a muppet may buy it on ebay for £1.50 and have to pay for it to be moved. It is not a reknown make. Ask your local piano shop for an assessment. What ever you spend on it you will lose. Tune it and play it if you like the sound.

Hi,

Thanks for the confirmation that its virtually worthless, I suspected this.

However, I may have misleaded a little, I dont want to refinish it to sell it on, I just want it to look nicer than it does now, as it "was" given to me, its sentimental and I decided I should take care of it.

Openwood · Post by **Openwood** » 28 Mar 2008, 22:06

I love the cat making an appearence in the final photo. That sums me up really - everyone else on this forum will give you serious piano advice but all I can do is be amused by a cat. Oh well......

jackg · Post by **jackg** » 29 Mar 2008, 00:05

The pictures suggest a well worn piano, the dampers are well worn and the case would cost £600- 800 to make it look nice assuming it is French Polished. You can buy a new Chinese piano for £1500. The economics of restoration paying skilled English worker £25 per hour does not compare with labour rates in China at 50pence per hour, I am guessing here about Chinese labour rates. If you do it yourself there is a considerable learning curve.
If you want to keep it, perhaps get a tuner or technician to have a look to advise you. Piano shops, I am told are offered any number of pianos by people trying to get rid of them and its only quality German and English ones that interest them, EG Bechstein, Bluthner, Steinway, Chappell, and a few others.

The cat could probably play 'Paws Paws black sheep' with considerable aplomb.

Post by **Gill the Piano** » 29 Mar 2008, 16:17

The soundboard and bridges look all right, anyway. Get it tuned, and in the meanwhile give it a going over with Topps Scratch-Cover, which will improve it for a few quid. Ask the tuner for an honest opinion, and explain that you just want a piano that works and doesn't look too bad, you're not interested in a full rebuild.
Did the cat find anything in the bottom of the joanna?

webbost · Post by **webbost** » 29 Mar 2008, 16:40

hi again.

using the info ive been given I have took a look into french polishing (resources both from this forum, and others). Seems like it would be a nice idea to take a 3 day cource in french polishing (includes stripping, staining etc). Either that or I could try learn it by myself, ensuring that I use scrap wood until i have it perfect.

I was also thinking, I have wanted it tuned for a while but you would be surprised how hard it has been for me to find a tuner. I could find one locally, but I live too far away and the tuner is blind so cannot get to my house.

I have been also looking into tuning, and figured it would be cool to give it a go. Not saying its easy, nor that I would get it right, but thats the idea of learning. If I can laern to tune my own piano, it can be tuned whenever it needs to be, free of cost. (until I snap the strings) lol.

Big Bird · Post by **Big Bird** » 30 Mar 2008, 12:21

Mate....Just go for it!

Most on this forum reckon I am as made as a cut snake, but I am still plodding along with my 50 cent piano, having fun and learning heaps.

Do not let the experts convince you to only look at it in terms of dollar (or in your case Pound) value of the finished item.

Put a value on standing back and being able to admire your work, or the kudos achieved when people walk into your house to find that the piano in your lounge room was restored by you.

As I keep saying, if the piano experts were into cars then only Rolls Royces, Ferraris and Hispano-Suizias? would ever get restored.

Knock yourself out learning and enjoy the finished product.

Post by **Gill the Piano** » 30 Mar 2008, 13:38

If you try and tune it yourself, you'll end up paying a tuner to put it right and maybe bust a few strings into the bargain; I'd try to find a tuner (Yell.com, this site, Yellow Pages, recommendation).
I'm all for keeping old pianos going if you want to do so, but know when to call an expert in!

tuna · Post by **tuna** » 30 Mar 2008, 23:43

There used to be a good tuner in the Leicester area called Rupert Taylor, not sure if he's still working in your area.
If the blind tuner can't get to your house, how does he get to anyone elses?

jackg · Post by **jackg** » 31 Mar 2008, 09:33

His dog drives him.

Tom Tuner · Post by **Tom Tuner** » 31 Mar 2008, 18:37

It is your piano so you may do as you like with it. It might save you some grief to read up a bit before plunging in, just so you have some idea of what you are getting into. Each of us had to start someplace. Incidentally, do not be put off by dire warnings about string breakage. Unless the wire is defective anyway it's not that easy to break one (if you don't hear any pitch change tho', you know you're doing something wrong!).
For its age it looks fairly decent inside. If you do refinish it, expect to find that the rosewood is still going to be fairly dark, but at least not black and a lot more interesting.