Restoring Piano Chickering

Restoring a Piano Chickering

Harold Schonberg, music critic once for the New York Times, described the 1900 as the "golden age" of pianos. Piano manufacturing was in full swing, and there were several manufacturers of high quality piano including Chickering and Sons, than it is today. As such, the pianos of this period are often extremely valuable tools in good condition and restored. While ideally a professional should conduct such an operation, this guide will show you what to expect from such a process and how to do it alone if necessary.

How to restore a Chickering Piano 

1.
Remove the harp and strings by the piano. The harp is the system of cast iron that keeps the strings in place. The details of this procedure varies from instrument to instrument, but you need to loosen the strings with a tuning hammer (a socket wrench stud piano) and pull vertically and remove the harp from the instrument. The harp must be raised as close to vertical as possible from the instrument. E 'can damage your frame not to.

2.
Remove the sound card. The sound card is located directly under the harp at the bottom of the frame and the interior surface of curved wood that occupies most of the base of the frame. Enable the Council to dry for several days if there are cracks. Once it is dry, use a shim (a small wedge used to expand the cracks) to hold large open cracks, while cutting the thick piece of spruce and insert them into the slots. They should be bonded. For small cracks, use epoxy to fill them. Sand the epoxy after it dries.

3.
Strip and re-design the piano, if necessary. It 'better than this step is done with the harp and the sound card removed from the instrument.

4.
Refit the instrument. Enter your sound card first, then vertically down the harp in the instrument. Make sure that the harp is properly protected, then tighten the strings in the appropriate field.