Bought a Chickering baby grand Piano.  Chickering was at one time the finest piano on the planet. The company went bust in 1983.

It's in fabulous shape.

The bench not so much, And there is the rub. All the joinery has failed.  I took it apart tonight,  scraped the glue off the ends of the dowels saved it  for analysis and I was almost dead sure it is hide glue which means it is repairable without cutting for fresh wood.

All of us who have rebuilt failed joiner y know the frustration PVA glues cause.  Nothing sticks to them after they have cured. But hide?  Oh  baby, more hide glue sticks just fine.  Ad I have plenty of it.

So  some 140F degree water and  a little time to let the glue dissolve and  sure enough it smells like hide glue, looks like hide glue, gells like hide glue, and  I have a sample of wood chips gluing up to guarantee.

 

This is a lovely turn of events.

 

 

 

Beautiful piano! You play?

+1; Beautiful piano! You play?

Lew took the words out of mouth...well key pad.

That is indeed a beautiful piano, congrats on snagging it.

15 hours ago, lew said:

You play?

I used to  by ear.  We'll see if it comes back

hasn't been tuned in a while. I may get the wrench and tune it myself.

Edited June 10, 20224 yr by Cliff

so....

 

are you going to sing us a song, piano man

 

sing us a song tonight?

Edited June 10, 20224 yr by DAB

On 6/10/2022 at 4:25 PM, DAB said:

are you going to sing us a song, piano man

you will have to put a gun to my head.

On 6/10/2022 at 11:52 AM, Cliff said:

I may get the wrench and tune it myself.

There's a trick to it.  It's in tune when it is not perfectly tuned. 

 

Fine'looking piana!