Previous Projects

Piano Restored on Contract with Owner

4'9" Niendorf Grand #25652

Mahogany case. Built in 1925. Restored by Ray’s Piano Service, June-August 2006.

IMPROVEMENTS:

Rebuild—Repair and refinish soundboard. Install new pinblock. Restring and repin. Recondition, lubricate pedal mechanisms.

Recondition action—Tighten screws, install new hammers. Replace defective parts.

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

SCHEDULE:

Pick up—Picked up from Clarkston, WA on June 10, 2006.

Restoration Schedule--June-September, 2006

Scheduled Delivery--To Clarkston, WA, October 13, 2006

1925 Niendorf Grand -- On arrival in our shop

1925 Niendorf Grand -- After Delivery--assembled in client's home

1925 Niendorf Grand 4'9"
Pictures of the Evaluation & Improvement Process
taken in our shop:

1 – We unloaded the piano, packed in blankets, at the entrance of our shop. Since we are not refinishing this piano, we left the music desk and the lid at the owner's home.

2 – Using our home-designed "grand piano tilter," setting up a small grand piano is a one-man operation. First, we install legs #2 and #3 and the tilter mechanism is fastened onto the bottom of the cabinet using the lyre bolts.

3 – Second, we lower the piano onto the two legs and the tilter. Third, we lift the cabinet over the tilter a few inches until the tilter leg falls into place, raising the piano high enough for installation of leg #1 and insert the "lock" to hold the tilter leg in place.

4 – Fourth, after installing leg #1, we insert the tilter leg spring into the leg.

5 –  Fifth, we lift a couple of inches again until the tilter leg moves back, freeing the tilter so that it can be removed easily.

6 – We installed the pedal lyre in order to conduct a complete inspection of the piano prior.

7 –  In order to preserve a beautiful original plate decal, we will only be cleaning the plate rather than refinish it.

8 – Two large cracks and several smaller imperfections in the soundboard can be repaired after removal of the plate and strings.

9 –  The bridge has also cracked in several places. We will rebuild sections of the bridge to improve consistency of tone throughout the piano.

10 – The tuning pins are very loose--average torque is about 15-20 lbs, too loose to hold pitch. We will replace the pinblock before restringing.

11 –  The original ivories are still in beautiful condition--except the top one, which we will replace with a better match.

12 – Unfortunately, a previous cabinet restoration left the plate unaccessible under the right side wall of the piano (or, perhaps the original cabinet was built this way?). The wall will need to be cut back for us to remove the plate.

13 –  Similarly, the left side wall had previously been widened over the plate. We will cut away a 1-inch piece of the wall and replace it with a walnut insert, to which we will attach the music rest guides.

14 – We removed the dampers and the piano action.

15 –  On sheets of mylar, we sketched the position of the music rest glides on the inside walls of the piano. These sketches will help us place the glides in the proper position after rebuilding the side walls.

16 – We cut the veneer back on each side wall, giving us access to the plate screws and enabling us to remove the plate.

17 –  We removed the bass strings. These will be sent to the string maker for duplication.

18 – Before removing the treble strings, we prepared a guide showing string sizes for each note. This guide will be used in restringing.

19 –  We removed the treble strings and all tuning pins.

20 – After removing all plate screws we lifted the plate out of the piano using our ceiling-mounted winch.

21 –  We removed the pinblock from the plate.

22 – We scrubbed the plate with warm soapy water.

23 –  We removed the bridge pins from a 15-note section of the treble bridge for which we will make a new bridge cap.

24 – We marked the location of the bridge pin holes on a piece of mylar which will be used as a pattern for making the new bridge cap.

25 –  We made a special form surrounding the part of the old bridge to be replaced. We used this form as a guide for removing the old bridge cap with a router.

26 – We glued the new bridge cap blank in place, then drilled holes, chiseled the edges, installed new bridge pins, and applied liquid graphite between the pins.

27 –  The completed new bridge cap is 1/2" thick, stronger than the original.

28 – We covered the piano with blankets and placed a heater on low heat under the soundboard overnight. This will enlarge the soundboard cracks and ensure that we repair all of them.

29 –  We shaped the cracks with a special V-shaped tool, then installed new spruce shim in the cracks with glue.

30 – After the glue had dried, we cut off the tops of the shims, then scraped the old finish off the surface of the soundboard.

31 –  We filled additional cracks in the bridges with a special liquid filler-epoxy that hardened in the cracks. After this had dried, we scraped excess epoxy off the wood surfaces.

32 – After scraping, the soundboard shims are flush with the surface of the sound board.

33 –  Using solid walnut, we made two new blocks for holding the music rest glides. These blocks are screwed into the side walls so they can be removed in the future when the plate must be removed.

34 – We sanded both inside walls of the piano and the new blocks. These surfaces will be stained and finished before the piano is reassembled.

35 –  We applied brown mahogany stain to the sanded sections of the inside walls, and we applied sealer to the bridges and sound board.

36 – After removing the old pinblock, we used air tools to clean and polish the surfaces of the plate on which the new pinblock will be located.

37 –  From a "Bolduc Pinblock" board, we cut a pinblock blank about 1/8" thicker and wider than the original. For pictures showing the pinblock replacement process in greater detail, open REPLACING A PINBLOCK IN A GRAND PIANO.

38 – After reducing the thickness of the new pinblock blank to match the original, we cut out a ledge for a tight fit into the plate. Using carpenter's chalk, we sanded this ledge in areas not touching the plate until the new pinblock blank was a tight fit throughout its length.

39 –  With the new pinblock blank tightly clamped in place, we drilled screw holes and fastened the new pinblock to the plate. Tuning pin holes will be drilled later.

40 – We fitted the plate and pinblock blank into the piano so that we could check the plate heights and improve the downbearing. We found that we needed to raise the plate by about 1/8" at the bass bridge and about 1/16" at the top treble. This will reduce the downward pressure of the strings and bridges onto the soundboard and result in a more dynamic tone.

41 –  We pre-drilled the tuning pin holes with a 5/16" drill bit to locate the exact center of each hole.

42 – We glued spacers onto the plate supports and also under the ends of the pinblock, to support the plate and pinblock at the correct height when the piano is reassembled--with varying thicknesses from 1/8" at the bass bridge to 1/16" at the top treble.

43 –  Using the pre-drilled centers as guides, we drilled the tuning pin holes with a .157-inch diameter drill bit. In repinning, we will use 2/0 pins (.282-inch diameter)--they will be tight enough in the laminated maple pinblock to hold tunings for many years.

44 – With the pinblock and plate bolted in place at the correct height, we enstalled new understring felt and plate bushings.

45 –  We installed our pinblock jack under the pinblock--to prevent cracking of the pinblock during restringing.

46 – The restringing and repinning process takes about 2 days. During restringing, we "chipped" the strings just flat of concert pitch, to ensure that the windings stay in place.

47 –  After restringing was complete, we tuned the piano several times before installing dampers and reconditioning the action. In coming weeks, the newly tuned strings will "settle in" at a stable pitch.

48 – We removed the hammer action and the keys from the keyframe. Before reinstalling the keys, we polished the key pins, replaced the felt punchings and key cloth, and replaced a badly discolored ivory keytop.

49 –  After cleaning, polishing and libricating the pins, cleaning the keyframe, and tightening the keyframe screws, we installed new felt underkey punchings and new key cloth.

50 – We removed the hammer action and the keys from the keyframe. Before reinstalling the keys, we polished the key pins, replaced the felt punchings and key cloth, and replaced a badly discolored ivory keytop.

51 –  We removed keytop #88, carefully sanded the underside of the keytop as well as the top surface of the key, and then we used cement tinted with white color to re-install the ivory, to achieve a closer color match.

52 – We buffed the keytops using our electric buffing wheel.

53 –  Most of the keys were very tightly installed on the balance rail pins. For smoother movement in playing, we used a special tool for enlarging the hole in the center of each key.

54 – With lead key weights on each back check, we used a long straight edge for "leveling" the key heights, removing and adding paper punchings as needed under the felt punchings on the balance rail pins.

55 –  We "rejuvenated" the knuckles by installing two strands of darning thread under the buckskin of each knuckle.

56 – We used a home-made "threader" made from very thin harpsichord wire to insert darning thread into the eye of the needle.

57 –  We removed the worn hammers and installed a new set of hammers. This will improve the consistency and quality of the piano tone.

58 - We regulated hammer height, letoff, and drop.

59 –  We reconditioned the lyre: tightened all screws, replaced felt bushings, and lubricated pedal pins.

60 - After aligning the hammers to the strings, we installed and regulated the dampers and the damper stop rail.

61 –  After completion of all improvements, we tuned the piano several times. Ready for delivery!

62 - We delivered the completed piano to the owner's home in Clarkston, WA, and we installed the lid, music rest and fallboard on site. Finished!