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Restore on Contract

Chickering Square Grand #45459

Beautiful Rosewood Cabinet. Built in 1874. Restored by Ray's Piano Service in winter 2007-2008.

IMPROVEMENTS:

Restring—Dismantle. Remove pins and strings. Restring & Repin.

Recondition action—Reshape hammers, replace loose center pins, repair defective action parts, tighten all screws.

Complete Regulation—All adjustments to ensure that piano plays like new, tune to A-440. Some cabinet repair. Reassemble

SCHEDULE:

Pick Up—August 18, 2007, from Shoreline, WA.

Deliver--June 4, 2008

Chickering Square Grand #45459 - "Before"

Chickering Square Grand #45459 - "After"

40 – Ready for delivery!

Chickering Square Grand #45459
Pictures of the Improvement Process
taken in our shop:

1 – For moving, we packed the piano on a grand piano skid.

2 – After unpacking, we set the piano on its legs, installed the lyre, and placed it on our "transporter" for ease in moving the piano in our shop during restoration.

3 – We removed the action and cleaned out the dust with compressed air.

4 – We also cleaned the plate and the strings. This is a very large square grand with 88 keys and an overstrung bass section.

5 – The "Chickering & Sons" logo is embossed into the plate.

6 – The "Chickering & Sons" logo is also located on the soundboard, with the serial number 45459 engraved into the wood.

7 – We also cleaned the interior. This piano is very heavy, with a massive frame, large legs, and a heavy cabinet.

8 – We removed the bass strings and pins, and sent the strings to the string-maker for duplication.

9 – With the strings and felt tab bar removed, we carefully examined the board, frame and bridges. We were especially concerned about loud knocking noises in the soundboard when knocking it with our knuckles. . .

10 – We found a board crack at the tip of the treble bridge, extending under the plate. . .

11 – We found a second board crack under the plate past the treble bridge. . .

12 – We found a third board crack extending in the middle of the board beyond the treble bridge under the plate. . .

13 – We found several small cracks in the top section of the treble bridge. . .

14 – We found a few superficial cracks in the frame of the piano in areas that would be inaccessible without further dismantling, so we called the owner for permission to remove the plate before continuing the project. This will give us access to the soundboard and frame areas for repairs.

15 – After removing the plate moulding and all plate bolts, we lifted the plate and placed it on 4" blocks.

16 – We lifted the plate out of the piano using our ceiling-mounted winch, and lowered it onto a tilter, so we could roll it into the refinishing room.

17 – We arranged the plate bolts onto a cardboard box for storage.

18 – We used a "shimming tool" to mark deep grooves into the soundboard cracks. To repair the cracks, we will glue V-shaped spruce shim into these grooves.

19 – We glued the shims in place. When the glue is dry, we will level the shims to the surface of the soundboard.

20 – We removed the old finish and sanded the surface.

21 – After the shim repairs were completed, we detected additional buzzing noises in the soundboard. It was not immediately clear where these noises originated, so we installed shim at the front edge of the soundboard where it was attached to the piano frame.

22 – Further investigation of unwanted noises led us to the edge of the soundboard near the pinblock. We glued and screwed the soundboard to the support extending from the pinblock. EUREKA! This solved our problem. This repair resulted in the familiar soundboard gonging sounds.

23 – After applying a coat of sealer and a coat of lacquer to the soundboard, we installed the new soundboard decal and serial number.

24 – We applied a second coat of semi-glass lacquer to the soundboard. Now this part of the piano can have a few days to dry while we refinish the plate.

25 – We refinished the plate with primer, pale gold color, and a clear top coat. Note: our camera fooled us here! The actual color of the refinished plate is shown more accurately in the following pictures.

26 – After the plate finish had a couple of days for drying, we cleaned and polished the plate bolts, lowered the plate in place and installed the bolts. Then we re-installed the plate molding.

27 – We rebushed the damper guide holes and we restrung the piano with new size 3/0 nickel-plated pins and new strings. During restringing, we "chipped up" the pitch of each string so that at the end of installation, pitch was, on average, about one tone below concert pitch.

28 – We installed stringing braid.

29 – With new strings and refinished plate and soundboard, the piano looks like new again! We are confident that it will be a fine musical instrument again.

30 – Using the action in its un-reconditioned state, we conducted the first tunings. This will permit the strings to "settle" during action reconditioning.

31 – After many years of playing several hammer butts had split at the center pin hole. We repaired these breaks by gluing and clamping.

32 – We replaced a couple of broken shanks.

33 - Replacement shanks are made of maple, which doesn't break as easily as mahogany, although it's also a bit heavier. We found that this doesn't affect playing.

34 – With the damper height guage we measured the top height of the backs of the keys.

35 – With the damper height guage in the piano, we regulated the damper wires so they were about 1/8" above the key heights.

36 - With the damper wires in place, we installed the damper mechanism.

37 – We installed the lyre and regulated the sustain system.

38 – We installed the damper mechanism cover.

39 - Finished--except for some cabinet repairs and final tunings. We're pleased with the final outcome, and we're confident the owner will enjoy having this piano back!

40 – We installed the lid props, music rest, and lid. Ready for delivery!

41 – We reconditioned the lyre, changing the angle of the pedals at rest.

42 - Restored piano, with lid closed.