Current Projects

Restore on Contract

54" Kohler & Campbell Upright #49556
Built in 1905. Rebuilt and Refinished by Ray’s Piano Service, 2010

IMPROVEMENTS INCLUDED:

Restring Bass—Dismantle. Remove bass pins and strings. Restring & Repin Bass Section.

Recondition action—Tighten all action screws. Install new hammers, shanks, butts, bridle tapes. Install new damper felts, jack springs, wippen heel felts.

Complete Regulation—All adjustments to ensure that piano plays like new--sustain, letoff, keyheight & leveling, dip, damper spoons. Tune to A-440.

Complete Refinishing—Strip all veneer surfaces, sand & repair. Apply filler, stain, sealer, lacquer. Apply new fallboard decal. Replate pedals. Install new keytops. Reassemble.

SCHEDULE:

Pick Up—From Mt. Vernon, WA, October 28, 2009

Complete Improvements--February-April 2010

Delivery Scheduled--April 2010

1905 Kohler & Campbell Upright - "Before"

1 – Picture taken in our shop.

1905 Kohler & Campbell Upright - "Current Status" in our shop

21 - Walnut veneer has a very hard surface and is fine-grained. The stripper does a great job of cleaning all the pores, and sanding and staining will result in a very beautiful look.

1905 Kohler & Campbell Upright
Pictures of the Restoration Process
taken in our shop, February-April 2010

2 - We will install new keytops and apply a new fallboard decal.

3 - We will recondition the piano action--new hammers, damper felts, bridle tapes, jack springs, wippen heel felts.

4 - We will strip all veneer surfaces and refinish with walnut stain and satin lacquer. We will have the pedals replated.

5 - We completely dismantled the cabinet, removing the action, keys, panels, keybed, legs, pedal board, and casters.

6 - We placed the panels against a wall for temporary storage until refinishing process begins.

7 - We placed the action and keys in a separate space for temporary storage until the reconditioning process begins.

8 - We removed several hammers-shanks-butts assemblies, to be sent as samples to the piano parts supplier for duplication.

9 - We removed the three pedals, which we will send in for replating with nickel.

10 - We removed the bass strings. We'll mail these to the bass string maker for duplication.  A "torque test" showed that many tuning pins in the treble section were very loose (l0 ft-lbs or even less), so we decided to restring and repin the treble section as well as the bass, using larger-size tuning pins to ensure that the piano would continue to be tunable for the next generation.

11 - We loosened the treble section tuning pins a half-turn so we could pull up individual strings for measuring, then prepared a "stringing guide" showing string guages. This guide will be used again during re-stringing.

12 - We removed the tuning pins, using a special bit on our half-inch drill.

13 - The people at Specialty Plating in Mt. Vernon did a great job with the pedals! When we reinstall them, they'll look like new.

14 - We removed the original casters, two of which had badly damaged sockets and were bent so they no longer turned or swivelled, and replaced them with new upright casters.

15 - We assembled our tools for restringing and repinning, and began the restringing/repinning process in the top treble, going to the right. Since the board and bridges were in good shape, we didn't remove the plate, saving a few hours of shop time.

16 - With all new treble strings and pins in place, we polished and re-installed the pressure and also installed stringing braid. Then we "chipped" the strings up to pitch and tapped the strings at the termination points to enhance tuning stability.

17 - We installed bass strings and pins, and stringing braid at the bass bridge.

18 - We removed all screws, hinges, buttons and knobs, in preparation for stripping each part.

19 - We took a picture of the old fallboard decal, to make sure that the replacement to be ordered looks the same.

20 - Beginning with the main cabinet, we stripped all external veneer surfaces.

21 - Walnut veneer has a very hard surface and is fine-grained. The stripper does a great job of cleaning all the pores, and sanding and staining will result in a very beautiful look.

21 - Walnut veneer has a very hard surface and is fine-grained. The stripper does a great job of cleaning all the pores, and sanding and staining will result in a very beautiful look.