Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Tuner-Technicians Forum Don't you hate sending pianos to Piano Heaven?

This piano was bought 90 years ago sat in one spot since then.

Finish all dried up but basically no scratches, mint.

Still had nice tone and crown.

I looked up how much it cost when it was made and it was as much as a Steinway.

You can see how well the frame was made and the fire cut veneer must have been stunning when new.

Well since selling pianos is all about name, I had to cut this up

Thanks for sharing the photos. What do you do with it once its cut up? Do you reclaim the wood and various parts?

I too hate to see pianos go to the great piano graveyard in the sky, but here is life afer death; rims make for some interesting and useful bookshelves if willing to put the work into it. I have something simliar to the image below planned for my early 1900's George Steck Aeolean grand which unfortunately, despite having sentimental value, is not worth rebuilding for a second time. I might as well make some use of it because it would pain me to just kick it to the curb...



Regards,
Andy

Woodfab,
Would you have any of the wippens left? Someone I know needs a full set, but I only have 85.

Craig

Notes on construction of this 1909 Kranich & Bach
Key bed is clear spruce, cross members are maple.

Some I hate to see go. But, others, not so much.

Anything at or above about a 5'8" grand or so, even in very poor condition, would make me wonder whether it might be a worthwhile rebuild. If case and plate are still solid, there's not a lot else that can't be fixed, rebuilt or built new.

I used to work in the shop of a large piano store. Much of our rebuilding stock came from tired old pianos that were pretty much ready for the dump. I wish I had some pictures to show what some of those old, tired pianos became.

Yes!
I hate doing it.

As far back as 1980 or so, however, I learned that the labor to disassemble a true junker was a real waste of time - even the time of the lowest-wage paid employee.

A couple of years ago I gave 18 uprights ( four of which were intact vacuum/roll type self players ) to a cousin for scrapping. I suggested that he simply burn them and take the metals for scrap. After he patiently disassembled a few, he decided I was right, burned them and sold the metals. He said that just the bolts and screws totaled to about 250 lbs., including the tuning pins, of course. The key leads melted and pooled into one low spot on the ground under the burn area.

Now I have a 6'4" Sohmer 9B which I had recapped thirty years ago to eliminate the bridge agraffe design of that model. This time around, after a water leak damaged the piano thirty years after my first rebuild, the owner has abandoned the project of restoring it. Due to scale errors, the mid-treble string lengths are far too long and put the wire tensions in that span above 70% of breaking strength. It will need a redesign on the long bridge.

I have been in business for almost 39 years. Ergo: An idea under consideration is to keep the Sohmer plate logo, but use my own company name on the fall board with a smaller custom decal to the right saying something like...
"Redesigned and Restored
on Sohmer brand frame"
My customers are far more familiar with me than they are Sohmer.

Anyone ever done this? It used to be common on the "Mirror Upright" cut-down jobs of fifty years ago. The idea is not based on any idea that I am better than the Sohmer guys of old - not at ALL. The logic is to use a stronger marketing connection.

Hey Phil,

I say, "Go for it!" :-)

Sounds like a neat project.

Looking at the pictures of the cut-up piano, I couldn't help but think of the key bed itself. If that wood is really clear spruce, it would have made good rib material.

Ah, so much waste, but so little time to recycle!

Maybe we should all team up with a hobby furniture builder (like DrewBone/Andy)or two with some creativity to make use of these carcasses.

What an army-tank-of-a-grand-piano that one was!

If you used some of the wood and turned it on a lathe, you could make legs, attach them to that curved piece from the back of the piano, and make a comfy cat bed.

:o))

There are a lot of things which are harder to adapt than build new. Like adapting an old Kranich and Bach into a piano, it is easier to build new!

I cringe seeing the beautiful wood and veneer going to waste. I know there is a time and cost factor to parting things out but I would at least make contact with the local chapters of the various wood crafting groups and see if they want any of the wood - especially if the chainsaw of doom is in the cards. The frame beams would be great for lathe turnings, legs could be re-purposed and the rim, at least the straight bits would be great shelving or recut and glued as a table top. I know as a piano, things like this have little value but old woods like that are very valuable to some artists and craftspeople. Just a matter of some e-mails or forum posts and you might find a ready local market for the wood....