LATEST UPDATE OF THIS PAGE: 2/9/04

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58" Kimball Upright #294212 Oak cabinet, Built in 1916, Rebuilt and Refinished by Ray's Piano Service, Winter 2003-2004 This piano was a "family heirloom."  The owners are having it restored and then plan to pass it on to the next generation of the family for their enjoyment. The budget for the entire restoration project, including pick-up and delivery, after-delivery tuning, and 1-year guarantee on all improvements, was $4,260 plus $200 for pick-up and delivery. IMPROVEMENTS COMPLETED: Rebuild—Repair soundboard, refinish soundboard & bridges, refinish plate, restring and repin. Refinish—Repair & strip cabinet & bench. Apply walnut stain, sealer & lacquer. Install new rubber buttons. Install new fallboard decal. Replate pedals. Recondition action—Complete cleaning. Install new hammers. Tighten action screws. Replace defective parts. Regulate—All adjustments to ensure that piano plays like new. Tune to A-440. SCHEDULE: Picked up from Bellingham, WA : September 2003 Projected Completed: January 8, 2004 Delivered to Bellingham, WA: January 17, 2004

 

1916 Kimball Upright -- "After" picture (taken without flash):

 

Before pick-up, this piano was located in the lower level of a split-level home situated on the edge of a deep ravine. After carefully reviewing alternative ways of bringing the piano up to the driveway, we decided (for an extra moving fee) to dismantle the piano in the client's home, carry the smaller parts up the stairs, and then to pull the plate and main frame up a long ramp placed along the ravine using a winch fastened to the spare tire mount on our piano trailer. Consequently, the first two steps of restoration had already been completed (dismantling, destringing)  when the piano arrived in our shop.

1916 Kimball Upright -- "Before" picture, dismantled:

Pictures of the improvement process taken in our shop:
1 – We scraped damaged veneer off the two "cheek blocks".	2 – New veneer installed.
3 – When we put the piano on its back to remove the pins, we also removed the sides because they were loose.	4 – We removed the bass bridge for repairs.
5 – We scraped the old varnish off the soundboard.	6 – We installed spruce shims in the soundboard cracks.
7 – We chiseled excess wood off the shims before sanding the surface of the soundboard.	8 – We applied two coats of spar urethane to the soundboard and bridges.
9 – Before reglueing the sides to the cabinet, we made a number of veneer repairs and also reglued parts that were loose.	10 – We used oak veneer with similar grain patterns for veneer repairs.
11 – We re-bolted the plate in place and installed understring felt.	12 – We installed new strings and pins.
13 – After restringing, we installed new stringing braid, and we replaced the pressure bar and action bolts.	14 – We glued and clamped each side back onto the cabinet.
15 – We applied filler on all the veneered surfaces in order to fill the grain pattern.	16 – We removed all the strings and pins.
17 – After removing all the plate bolts, we lifted the plate in order to expose the soundboard and bridges.	18 – We shimmed cracks in the soundboard and refinished the board with spar urethane.
19 – Kimball uprights have unique damper levers and springs. We replaced a number of broken flanges and springs.	20 – We replaced a considerable amount of broken and missing veneer on the cabinet.
21 – We installed new hammer heads and bridle tapes, tightened all action screws, lubricated moving parts, and reassembled the action.	22 – We rebuilt the pedal mechanisms, then reinstalled the newly replated pedals, the pedal board and the keybed.
23 – We rebuilt and refinished the piano bench.	24 – After applying clear lacquer top-coat, we reassembled the cabinet. This picture was taken using our flash, so the actual color is a bit darker.
25 – We placed the piano in our showroom for display until delivery. For the first weeks, several tunings are required before the strings reach tuning stability.	26 – Close-up of the replated pedals. Taken with flash, so the color of the cabinet is a bit darker.