Restored on Contract with Owner

56 1/2" Kimball Upright #118379

Tall, beautifully carved oak cabinet. Built in 1903 by a reputable U.S. piano manufacturer. Being restored by Ray’s Piano Service.

IMPROVEMENTS:

Dismantle, Clean—Dismantle. Clean interior. Check casters, replace if necessary. Rebuild pedal mechanisms, install new pedals.

Recondition action—Tighten action screws. Install new hammers, dampers, bridle tapes, catcher leather. Replace defective parts.

Complete Regulation—All adjustments to ensure that piano plays like new, using new underkey punchings. Tune to A-440

Refinish--Strip cabinet & panels, repair as needed, sand, stain, sealer, lacquer. Install new buttons, knobs, fallboard decal. Grind & polish ivory keytops.

SCHEDULE:

Pick Up in Arlington, WA—March 17, 2005

Restoration work—April 2005

Deliver to Lake Goodwin, WA--June 6, 2005

1903 Kimball Upright "After" picture:

1903 Kimball Upright "Before" picture:

1903 Kimball Upright
Pictures of the restoration process
taken in our shop:

1 – We dismantled the piano, placed the panels on a storage rack, and placed the piano body on a "piano tilter" so we could clean the interior well, polish metal parts, and tighten all screws.

2 – We installed new casters because the old casters were badly bent and no longer "swivelled."

3 – We stripped all external wood surfaces except the panels of the music rest (since the leaf-designs on them were originally made of plaster). This picture of the sidewall with wet stripper indicates the approximate color of final finish if we did not apply woodstain for coloring.

4 – Note the "busy" woodgrain pattern of oak veneer. Use of stain will enhance this grain pattern by "soaking" into the soft pores of the wood and by being wiped off the hard woodgrain surfaces.

5 – After stripping we repaired external wood surfaces in areas of damage. To fix this section of veneered sidewall, we cut a square area out of the veneer, filled the gouged area with new wood and woodfiller, and then glued-and-clamped a square of new veneer in place.

6 – We repaired a damaged area on top of the piano lid by inserting glue in areas where the veneer had become loose, clamped the veneer back onto the core wood, and repaired remaining cracks with colored wood patch. When dry, this will be sanded smooth with the rest of the lid.

7 – The "pedal board" had several cracks along its length that required gluing and clamping. This repair reduces the potential for "buzzing" noises when the piano is played.

8 – Sanding with 80-grit sandpaper and then with 120-grit sandpaper has a dramatic lightening effect on the woodcolor by removing much of the original woodstain. Also, this process smooths ares of slight damage and results in consistent surface texture and color.

9 – After sanding, we applied stain, filler, sealer, and lacquer to all parts of the piano.

10 – We applied stain, filler, sealer, and lacquer to the legs.

11 – We placed the action in a special stand for reconditioning. We removed the rails for better access to the parts. We cleaned the action, tightened all action screws, removed the old hammers and installed new hammers, removed the old dampers and installed new dampers.

12 – Action reconditioning has been completed. It will next be installed in the piano for regulation work.

13 – We removed the three pedal levers, installed new pedals, and made a new "tip" for the sustain lever to fit the new sustain pedal.

14 – We reinstalled the pedal board and support, after lining the holes with new felt.

15 – We reinstalled the refinished legs and the keybed.

16 – After installing new underkey punchings, we placed the keys and the action in the piano.

17 – We regulated the capstans, key height and key leveling.

18 – We aligned the hammers and dampers to the strings.

19 – After completing all regulation adjustments, we installed new muffler felt and then reinstalled the muffler bar.

20 – During reassembly, we cleaned all hinges and screws.

21 – We installed new nameboard felt and then reinstalled the fallboard in the piano.

22 – We reassembled the music rest before placing it in the piano.

23 – We found that the color of the decorative panels was very similar to the color of the rest of the piano.

24 – We reassembled the refinished bench.

25 – After two tunings, this project was finished! We were pleased with the outcome.

26 – Piano with bench.