Small restoration

Ah, here is an important thing: when you say the bellows and make the tip load at least three times up and again inside, in this way it cools down and does not burn the wood

Sorry if I took a while to get back to you.

So, I didn't know if the tips glue or not. I put a wooden peg in as a wedge....I didn't say it out of fear......

Yes, I made the hole a little at a time. Precisely to avoid burning the wood.

To glue it all together I used Bostik D4 polyurethane glue and tightened it with super clamps

I knew about Titebond and hot glue. But I preferred this one once I read all the specifications

Soulman wrote:

Sorry if I took a little while to get back to you.

So, I didn't know if the pins glue in or not. I put a wooden pin in as a wedge....I didn't say it for fear......

If it is hardwood, well-glued, it might even hold, but if it shifts, the tuning of that string will drop

Soulman wrote:

To glue it all together, I used Bostik D4 polyurethane glue and tightened it with super clamps

It is not the right glue; it could cause you problems since it is not new wood but has already been glued with hot glue at the factory. Hot glue is also used to reactivate old glue

Soulman wrote:

I knew about Titebond and hot glue. But I preferred this one once I read all the specifications

We'll have to see what happens with the arrival of winter

I hope it holds. Anyway, according to the manufacturer's specifications, it should be fine.

Unfortunately, here in Palermo, restorers are not that open/accessible.

I went a bit by intuition but above all through study.

Oh well, you should have just asked before and not after

It's true. But I discovered you later, unfortunately.

Ok, anyway it's fine, for the next one you will also adjust your aim depending on how this work evolves.

Thank you. Certainly.

Hi soulman, first of all, let me congratulate you on the work; let's just say that rather than a small restoration, I would say it was quite an intensive restoration. Replacing the soundboard is no small feat, especially in an upright, as is everything else. I hope the result was satisfying. Did you check the tension at the bridges? The 0.25 hole relative to the size of the pins also seems a bit small to me, as giovannig was saying. I think I would have replaced the entire hitch pin plate with a new one, even for the bass? It would be nice to be able to hear it; maybe if you feel like it, you could send us some recordings. I am from Catania and I also wanted to ask you something!! Did you get all the material, such as strings, soundboard, pins, etc., in Palermo? Or somewhere else? I don't know if there is a shop in Palermo that sells piano materials... You can also reply to me privately if you want; I'll leave you my email, I would have other things to ask you. (Miaemail31@libero.it) bye ... Salvo.

Hello Salvopiano.

Thank you for your compliments.

However, in all humility, I must say that for me it was a new task.

I should specify that in my piano, which is a Geyer upright, I have always taken care of the mechanics, the condition of the hammers, general cleaning, tuning and voicing..... but I never dreamed of having a piano completely disassembled into all its parts.

What can I say?

Fortunately, during my studies at the Vincenzo Bellini Conservatory in Palermo, I used to follow the tuning technician and help him (by passing tools) and by following step by step what he did, I asked him a billion questions.

The worry of making mistakes was there and still is; furthermore, I am sure that there were some things I could have done better.

I embarked on this path for the simple fact that the piano had a cracked soundboard...... unfortunately, having only two crossed layers and then a solid block, I sensed that the cracks were deep and also involved the solid piece.

So, I decided to disassemble it.

Now I am putting everything back together.

I have only done 10 tunings; so far I have felt 2 decisive settle-ins, one in the low-mids and one in the highs.

To tell the truth, I don't know if it's normal, but I think it is.

The pedals were restored on the lathe and then burnished.

For now, it is too early to say whether they hold or not...... also because I think everything still needs to settle.

I will change the strings and hammers next year. For now, I have taken the trouble to clean them, except for a few whose diameter I found here in Palermo.

The bass bridge was detached.

The tension of the soundboard in this piano is not excessively high; furthermore, the braces are straight..... they are not rounded off.

The most beautiful part, however, was the restoration of the soundboard.

When I started removing the shellac and restoring the wood surface....... yes.... I almost cried...... aside from the smell, seeing those lines so straight and that color..... it was moving.

I'll tell you right away that I have no problem posting some musical references interpreted by me..... but this will never be classical.....

As for the rest, I will give you new details as soon as possible.

One more thing..... I called it a small restoration because it is an upright...... if it had been a medium grand, I would have said a medium restoration...... if it had been a concert grand, then.... well.... a large restoration.

Obviously, I'm joking.

Bye and thank you.

Compliments on the work done!!. Far from a "small restoration"; if I may say so, it would have been better to bring the tuning half a tone up and leave it for several hours. Then bring it definitely to 440. You followed the numerous tunings. That's fine, but the instrument will undergo more settling. On the other hand, "leveling" the strings with the appropriate hook tool is controversial. This causes a flatness of the strings through a definitive "leveling bend." Other minor corrections can then be made by bringing the hammers close together and checking that the three or two strings are stopped by the surface of the hammer tip itself. In this way, one contributes to obtaining a compact and simultaneous attack on the respective strings of each unison.

Thank you so much, piano expert.

Actually, I tuned it a bit high; I waited 2 days and the A# had become a G. Since then, I have tuned it to 440, and for now, I am at 426; for the moment, I am dedicating myself to the mechanics. Unfortunately, the hammers have been modified, not by me—unfortunately, I don't know who my father-in-law relied on—but there are many errors: the escapement was not regulated and the dampers are blocking the strings, furthermore, the capstans are at 2 cm.

For now, I am adjusting the capstan distance to 4.3 cm and the escapement to 2 mm with capstans at 1 cm.

Additionally, as you were saying, I am checking if the hammer strikes the strings uniformly; there are heads where only 2 strings sound, in the sense that they are not centered.

Thank you for the support. I also want to take this opportunity to tell you that you are great, highly prepared, and boundless. Great. An excellent point of reference.

I have voiced several uprights; yours is already equipped with a cast iron frame. It is strange that after the first "pinching" done without mechanics, half a tone or a tone up was not sufficient to stabilize the piano.

Were the curls made well? Is it possible that the wood is splitting?

The legs retouched on the lathe? What does that mean.... a pack of legs costs 100 euros plus VAT, what sense would there be in recovering the old ones which are probably not even precise?

The frame was removed.... Are you sure you put all the supports back in the right place?? Maybe someone ran off with your disarming.

The holes might not be tight enough, it depends on how you drilled them, with which bit etc., although an eventual problem regarding the stability of the leg is something to evaluate soon and I don't think that is the case.

Thank you Giovanni.

In effect, I am feeling a bit apprehensive; all the supports are there, the ankles have been cleaned on the lathe and restored following the thread.

This cost me nothing since my cousin owns a professional lathe in his workshop and I performed the restoration work myself.

More than work, it was fun.

My fear is that they have become too small; consider that they started at 6.95 and are now at 6.75.

However, the piano is tuning down completely. This morning it is exactly a semitone low.

I will give it another tuning and wait until tomorrow.

In case I can check?

So everything goes down uniformly then? But do the strings wrap around the frame or does each one have its own eyelet?

When we want to recover the ankles, they are cleaned on the grinding wheel, on the circular brush, but on the lathe it seems excessive to me.

In any case, they should always be calibrated before drilling the hole; in a set there could be some of different sizes (even if the piano is in factory condition).

Are the tips of the bridges steady? If it continues to go down uniformly, there must be a widespread problem, such as a missing support, loose eyelets, curls that slip if made all the same way, something that moves.