LATEST UPDATE OF THIS PAGE: 8/9/04

Previous Projects

 

Restored On Contract

 

5'6" Kimball Grand #639551

Light Mahogany, Built in 1963. Restored by Ray's Piano Service, Spring 2004

This piano was previously owned by the client's mother. Unfortunately, it had been neglected in recent years, including being stored in a garage where exposure to moisture resulted in serious corrosion on strings and pins, and the action becoming sluggish. Before restoration, the piano and action were covered with blankets and exposed to heat to ensure that the wood would return to normal in-home condition. We picked up the piano from the owner's garage in Wilsonville, OR. The budget for this restoration was $6,200 including pick-up and delivery.
IMPROVEMENTS INCLUDED:

Rebuild—Repair soundboard, refinish soundboard & bridges, restring and repin.

Recondition action—Complete cleaning, install new hammers & dampers, tighten action screws, replace all defective parts.

Regulate—all adjustments to ensure that piano plays like new, install new underkey punchings, tune to A-440.
SCHEDULE:

Picked up from Wilsonville, OR : October 18, 2003

Restoration scheduled: Work begun February 2004, Completed May 2004

Delivered to Wilsonville, OR: August 9, 2004

 

1963 Kimball Grand -- "Before" picture: on the grand piano truck, ready for moving to our shop

 

1963 Kimball Grand -- "After" picture: in our showroom, ready for delivery

 

1963 Kimball Grand
Pictures of the Improvement Process
taken in our shop:

 

1 – "Before" -- top view.

2 – "Before" -- the lid, lyre, legs, and other parts.

 

3 – We placed the main body of the piano on our shop truck to make it accessible for the restoration process.

4 – We removed the dampers and the damper mechanism, and placed these on our damper rack to them accessible for the restoration process.

 

5 – We cleaned the action, tightened the action screws, replaced the underkey punchings. We will remove the keys for replacement of the keytops.

6 – We removed the bass strings, tying them securely in order. These will be sent to the string-maker for duplication.

 

7 – After removing the treble strings, we removed the tuning pins.

8 – We removed the plate bolts, and then lifted the plate out of the piano with our ceiling-mounted hoist.

 

9 – We scraped and sanded the soundboard.

10 – We refinished the soundboard and bridges with spar urethane. After this finish had dried for two days, we rubbed down the surface to leave a smooth, satin sheen.

 

11 – We cleaned the plate and polished the hitch pins and agraffes. Then we applied primer, a gold color and a clear urethane coating.

12 – Before re-installing the plate, we applied a decal to the soundboard and covered it with a final coat of urethane.

 

13 – We lowered the plate back in place.

14 – We polished the plate bolts, and bolted the plate down.

 

15 – The new soundboard decal adds an authentic, professional touch to restoration.

16 – We installed a small decal with the piano's serial number in the front right corner of the plate.

 

17 – We stripped all the veneered surfaces,  applied wood filler to smooth out the grain, and sanded these surfaces when dry.

18 – We covered each veneered surface with stain, resulting in an even, consistent color.

 

19 – We tightened the action screws, removed the old hammers and installed a set of new hammers.

20 – After installing new understring felts, we installed new pins and strings.

 

21 – After stringing was complete, we "chipped" each string up to pitch, ready for the first tuning.

22 – We removed the old discolored keytops and installed new plastic keytops, then we shaped the keytops to the keys.

 

23 – We cleaned and repaired the keyframe, then installeds new underkey punchings.

24 – After completing action repairs, we reassembled the action and conducted a complete regulation on the regulating bench.

 

25 – We polished the pedals, rebushed the holes with new felt, and reassembled the lyre.

26 – After cleaning each damper wire, we installed new damper pads and then re-installed the dampers in the piano.

 

27 – We installed the lyre on the piano, using new brass lyre support rods.

28 – After installing the legs, we tuned the piano three times, then moved the piano into our showroom.

 

29 – Finished! From the left.

30 – Finished! From the right, lid on low setting.

 

31 – Finished! From the rear.

32 – Finished! Lid closed.

 

33 – Finished! From left, lid on low setting.

34 – Finished! Close-up of keys and "Kimball" decal.

 

35 – We also refinished and re-uphostered the matching bench.