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Willetta's Spinet Piano's New Lives

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piano
6K views 5 replies 5 participants last post by  LeeBarker 
#1 ·
Getting It Apart

There are easy things: The screws to the hinges of the top. The screws holding the keyboard cover on. The panel in the knee space. All these are a cinch.

The keys are not actually fastened in. They just rest on a bed of pins. (I'll add that picture later.)

Then the remarkable part: The motion from a depressed key is translated through a number of pivoting, moving parts to finally reach the hammer which strikes the string (hence the classification of the piano as a percussion instrument). And this whole construction rolls up like a bamboo shade!

Wood Kitchen utensil Cutlery Metal Event


Wood Rectangle Gas Composite material Flooring


Wood Composite material Gas Engineering Machine


Musical instrument accessory Engineering Metal Machine Steel


Office equipment Musical instrument Grille Folk instrument Electronic instrument


The deck on which the pin rack (for lack of a professional term) sits is just oak. The other internal materials are maple and the spruce soundboard. The latter is not salvageable in this spinet, anyway.

Once the strings are cut and removed with a die grinder and cutoff wheel, you're left with removing the cast iron frame.

In order to accomplish this, every tuning pin must be removed completely. Though they don't appear threaded as we know threaded, they actually have very shallow cuts in them and they back out quite readily if you have enough torque to get them started. That required a 1/2" Porter Cable corded drill.

Wood Bench Writing desk Varnish Hardwood


Wood Gas Tints and shades Hardwood Ceiling


Some screws and bolts hold in the cast iron frame but they were small challenges.

Wood Flooring Hardwood Metal Engineering


The frame weighs 105 lbs.

It went home in the truck. When Linda the Artist saw it, my idea of letting some shrubbery grow out of it ("Bring me a shrubbery!") went away.

Wood Triangle Rectangle Composite material Tints and shades


The current plan is to hang it on the wall in the music room. More of that unfolding adventure to follow.
 

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#2 ·
Getting It Apart

There are easy things: The screws to the hinges of the top. The screws holding the keyboard cover on. The panel in the knee space. All these are a cinch.

The keys are not actually fastened in. They just rest on a bed of pins. (I'll add that picture later.)

Then the remarkable part: The motion from a depressed key is translated through a number of pivoting, moving parts to finally reach the hammer which strikes the string (hence the classification of the piano as a percussion instrument). And this whole construction rolls up like a bamboo shade!

Wood Kitchen utensil Cutlery Metal Event


Wood Rectangle Gas Composite material Flooring


Wood Composite material Gas Engineering Machine


Musical instrument accessory Engineering Metal Machine Steel


Office equipment Musical instrument Grille Folk instrument Electronic instrument


The deck on which the pin rack (for lack of a professional term) sits is just oak. The other internal materials are maple and the spruce soundboard. The latter is not salvageable in this spinet, anyway.

Once the strings are cut and removed with a die grinder and cutoff wheel, you're left with removing the cast iron frame.

In order to accomplish this, every tuning pin must be removed completely. Though they don't appear threaded as we know threaded, they actually have very shallow cuts in them and they back out quite readily if you have enough torque to get them started. That required a 1/2" Porter Cable corded drill.

Wood Bench Writing desk Varnish Hardwood


Wood Gas Tints and shades Hardwood Ceiling


Some screws and bolts hold in the cast iron frame but they were small challenges.

Wood Flooring Hardwood Metal Engineering


The frame weighs 105 lbs.

It went home in the truck. When Linda the Artist saw it, my idea of letting some shrubbery grow out of it ("Bring me a shrubbery!") went away.

Wood Triangle Rectangle Composite material Tints and shades


The current plan is to hang it on the wall in the music room. More of that unfolding adventure to follow.
Wow, very interesting Lee. Good pics, thanks!
 

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#3 ·
Getting It Apart

There are easy things: The screws to the hinges of the top. The screws holding the keyboard cover on. The panel in the knee space. All these are a cinch.

The keys are not actually fastened in. They just rest on a bed of pins. (I'll add that picture later.)

Then the remarkable part: The motion from a depressed key is translated through a number of pivoting, moving parts to finally reach the hammer which strikes the string (hence the classification of the piano as a percussion instrument). And this whole construction rolls up like a bamboo shade!

Wood Kitchen utensil Cutlery Metal Event


Wood Rectangle Gas Composite material Flooring


Wood Composite material Gas Engineering Machine


Musical instrument accessory Engineering Metal Machine Steel


Office equipment Musical instrument Grille Folk instrument Electronic instrument


The deck on which the pin rack (for lack of a professional term) sits is just oak. The other internal materials are maple and the spruce soundboard. The latter is not salvageable in this spinet, anyway.

Once the strings are cut and removed with a die grinder and cutoff wheel, you're left with removing the cast iron frame.

In order to accomplish this, every tuning pin must be removed completely. Though they don't appear threaded as we know threaded, they actually have very shallow cuts in them and they back out quite readily if you have enough torque to get them started. That required a 1/2" Porter Cable corded drill.

Wood Bench Writing desk Varnish Hardwood


Wood Gas Tints and shades Hardwood Ceiling


Some screws and bolts hold in the cast iron frame but they were small challenges.

Wood Flooring Hardwood Metal Engineering


The frame weighs 105 lbs.

It went home in the truck. When Linda the Artist saw it, my idea of letting some shrubbery grow out of it ("Bring me a shrubbery!") went away.

Wood Triangle Rectangle Composite material Tints and shades


The current plan is to hang it on the wall in the music room. More of that unfolding adventure to follow.
Can't wait to see where this goes Lee. You many times amaze me.
 

Attachments

#4 ·
Getting It Apart

There are easy things: The screws to the hinges of the top. The screws holding the keyboard cover on. The panel in the knee space. All these are a cinch.

The keys are not actually fastened in. They just rest on a bed of pins. (I'll add that picture later.)

Then the remarkable part: The motion from a depressed key is translated through a number of pivoting, moving parts to finally reach the hammer which strikes the string (hence the classification of the piano as a percussion instrument). And this whole construction rolls up like a bamboo shade!

Wood Kitchen utensil Cutlery Metal Event


Wood Rectangle Gas Composite material Flooring


Wood Composite material Gas Engineering Machine


Musical instrument accessory Engineering Metal Machine Steel


Office equipment Musical instrument Grille Folk instrument Electronic instrument


The deck on which the pin rack (for lack of a professional term) sits is just oak. The other internal materials are maple and the spruce soundboard. The latter is not salvageable in this spinet, anyway.

Once the strings are cut and removed with a die grinder and cutoff wheel, you're left with removing the cast iron frame.

In order to accomplish this, every tuning pin must be removed completely. Though they don't appear threaded as we know threaded, they actually have very shallow cuts in them and they back out quite readily if you have enough torque to get them started. That required a 1/2" Porter Cable corded drill.

Wood Bench Writing desk Varnish Hardwood


Wood Gas Tints and shades Hardwood Ceiling


Some screws and bolts hold in the cast iron frame but they were small challenges.

Wood Flooring Hardwood Metal Engineering


The frame weighs 105 lbs.

It went home in the truck. When Linda the Artist saw it, my idea of letting some shrubbery grow out of it ("Bring me a shrubbery!") went away.

Wood Triangle Rectangle Composite material Tints and shades


The current plan is to hang it on the wall in the music room. More of that unfolding adventure to follow.
I have wanted to repurpose an upright, for some time now. Your documentation of the process makes it all that much more enticing. I'll be follow along as you progress.
 

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#5 ·
Getting It Apart

There are easy things: The screws to the hinges of the top. The screws holding the keyboard cover on. The panel in the knee space. All these are a cinch.

The keys are not actually fastened in. They just rest on a bed of pins. (I'll add that picture later.)

Then the remarkable part: The motion from a depressed key is translated through a number of pivoting, moving parts to finally reach the hammer which strikes the string (hence the classification of the piano as a percussion instrument). And this whole construction rolls up like a bamboo shade!

Wood Kitchen utensil Cutlery Metal Event


Wood Rectangle Gas Composite material Flooring


Wood Composite material Gas Engineering Machine


Musical instrument accessory Engineering Metal Machine Steel


Office equipment Musical instrument Grille Folk instrument Electronic instrument


The deck on which the pin rack (for lack of a professional term) sits is just oak. The other internal materials are maple and the spruce soundboard. The latter is not salvageable in this spinet, anyway.

Once the strings are cut and removed with a die grinder and cutoff wheel, you're left with removing the cast iron frame.

In order to accomplish this, every tuning pin must be removed completely. Though they don't appear threaded as we know threaded, they actually have very shallow cuts in them and they back out quite readily if you have enough torque to get them started. That required a 1/2" Porter Cable corded drill.

Wood Bench Writing desk Varnish Hardwood


Wood Gas Tints and shades Hardwood Ceiling


Some screws and bolts hold in the cast iron frame but they were small challenges.

Wood Flooring Hardwood Metal Engineering


The frame weighs 105 lbs.

It went home in the truck. When Linda the Artist saw it, my idea of letting some shrubbery grow out of it ("Bring me a shrubbery!") went away.

Wood Triangle Rectangle Composite material Tints and shades


The current plan is to hang it on the wall in the music room. More of that unfolding adventure to follow.
Lee,

That certainly is a thorough disassembly! I've done a couple myself (early 1900s uprights with ivory and ebony) but never went so far as to remove all the pins. What a job! We'll be interested to see how you hang your "artwork."

L/W
 

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#6 ·
Getting the Hang of It.

Prep involved painting that back wall, which involved moving a desk, and the worm bin and the church pew. Hey, it's a music room!

Linda chose a chocolate charcoal if that makes any sense. In the images you'll see the wall part of the French cleat. Those herky screws, purchased at Fastenal, go through the sheetrock (which is transitional-it has a skim coat of plaster on it!) and through the 3/4 furring strip and into the concrete block.

You can just see the corner of one of the two blocks, attached to the back of the harp, which hold it away from and parallel to the wall.

Embellishments come as we get inspired. We have one planned and I'll post about it here. It's a music-themed piece overall, so we don't want to run out and buy a bunch of flugel horns on ebay just to get momentum, oh now. It will be intentional art, doncha see?

Wood Rectangle Material property Paint Gas


Wood Rectangle Varnish Plank Hardwood


Wood Gold Rectangle Lighting Triangle


The harp is about 30" high, 36" at the bottom and 52" at the top.
 

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