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FINALLY finished that piano!

J

JM :o)

New member
Everyone has been listening to me complain that I'm tired and have not time for a year and half because of the PIANO~ it seems to have taken on a life of it's own and all of my life too! Well~ I'm finally done!! (mostly~ it has to cure for a week and then get a good rub out with paste wax, but THAT'S the easy part!) It was so much work~ I just gotta show it off!

This is an old piano that was in Scott's Grandfathers house. When Grandpa Marchek passed away Scott's Aunt asked if I could refinish it. I cheerfully volunteered. I had NO CLUE how much work was involved! I hated this piano more days than not~ but I'm glad I took the task on. It's certainly a family heirloom now!
This is what it looked like when I got it:
piano2.jpg

piano3.jpg

piano5.jpg


A year and half later~ and more work than I want to think about~ (damn thing was green and gold under that black and orange paint! and the green was oil based and soaked into the wood grain!) this is what it looks like now!
piano17.jpg

piano18.jpg


We don't know how long Grandpa Marchek had the piano~ but we do know he was not the original owner. While working to strip the nasty paint I discovered through various dates and serial number found on the piano that the Piano is an Aeolian brand. The case and bench were manufactured in 1906. The piano plate was manufactured in 1920. The keys were manufactured in 1936. My understanding now is that the keys are most likely ivory. Wish I'd know that before I used sandpaper to remove the black paint and years of grime from what I thought were plastic keys! Oh well~ live and learn and hopefully not too much damage had been done to the keys if they are in fact ivory.
 
That is amazing, I congratulate you on a job that has turned out to be a work of Art!
That piano case is 100 years old!? o.o!
Ivory keys too, even though I don't agree with that, it still does look beautiful.

Can you play at all? ;)
 
Can't play at all! And from what I've read online it's very likely that paino can't really either! I learned a lot about pianos over the last year and a half~ turns out that whoever painted it the first time probably ruined the sound quality~ the subsequent coats of paint and then my taking it apart and stripping it probably did not help. I know there is a broken "Bootstrap" in there too~ but I have NO CLUE how to fix it and did not try. I did lubricate all the key pulls with graphite so they no longer stick~ but it will be up to Scott's aunt to get it to play right when she gets it home!

Why do you say you don't agree the keys are ivory? I only say they most likely are as the guy at our local music store where I got the graphite told me that the 1936 date carved into the back of the keys means they are most likely ivory. I had thought they were plastic vaneer over wood when I cleaned them, but the man said in 1936 they almost had to be thin ivory glued onto the wood. Do you have some other information that may change my thinking on that?
 
Excellent!! I had a Chickering from 1915, which would have had ivory keys, only they had been replaced. I refinished/rebuilt a horse cart once- I know exactly how it feels. And the little desk I'm sitting at now was once buried under layers and layers of paint- who'd have known it was such a pretty little thing under all that? Quality furniture lasts forever.

Nanci
 
Congrats on near completion! It looks amazing considering what you started with! I miss my grandmother's baby grand... it was the sweetest thing... *sigh* Used to be able to play, but haven't in years...


Jenn
 
Absolutely amazing!!! Great job. You have a lot of skill and patients to pull that one off. :cheers: :cheers: :cheers: :cheers: :cheers: :cheers: (that's a cyber 12 pack for you and I to split, you deserve some)
Jay & PJ :cool:
 
JM :o) said:
Why do you say you don't agree the keys are ivory?
Click to expand...

I think the individual meant they don't agree with the processes used to GET ivory... e.g. the slaughter of elephants and other tusked mammals. (not that that was YOUR decision!)

However, what's done is done, and it sure is purty now!! :cheers:
 
That's amazing. I can't believe you had the patience to finish that sort of job. It's unimaginable. It looks fabulous! Congrats on being FINISHED with it!
 
That looks great Cheryl!!!!!!!
I am sure your great grandchildren will pass it on to there kids
and so on and so fourth
Congrats on finishing it
TIM
 
Wow Cheryl, that is an awesome job. You don't need to know how to play that piano, it can just sit in the corner and look good!!:cool:
 
Side job

Wow AWESOME job! :cheers: Perhaps you have found a new sideline to help pay for your addiction. :shrugs: You could bring in a nice chunk of change to spend on more corns. :cheers:
 
What an amazing job you did. It's more beautiful than words can say. Congratulations on your hard work.

We have an 1892 upright piano that was a wedding present from my great grandparents to my grandparents. It's been black with stain and age for as long as I can remember. It's also been the only thing in my parents' house that I wanted after they passed on. When I got married a few years ago, my father paid a sizable sum to have it professionally restored (we should have sent it to you!) and I was blown away to see details that had been covered up by the layers of stain. It's actually red mahogany and we chose a clear lacquer to make the colour stand out. Many of the keys are original ivory, but most have been replaced over the years. It sounds pretty darn good for its age. I love the depth of its sound.
 
Cheryl, that's AMAZING. I hope that it can stay in tune for you, what with all the prior abuse it withstood.

Congrats on a job well done!! :cheers:

regards,
jazz
 
Thanks all! I'm pretty proud of how it turned out~ and after all that work it's nice to hear others think it turned out well too!

Dionythicus~ I'd love to see before and after pics of your old piano~ I can't play a note~ but I've discovered a fascination with them I didn't know I had! If you know~ I'd also like to hear how one can tell the difference between the old ivory keys and replaced plastic ones. And do you happen to know how to properly care for the white keys?

I'd love to hear you guys play it~ but I doubt thats in the cards. It's going to Scott's Aunts house after I do the last rub out with paste wax. It will be up to her to get it tuned and make it sound *okay*. Jazz is correct in worrying it won't hold it's sound~ from what I've read it is very doubtful it will ever be a true musicians treasure after all it's been through~ but it will be a fine legacy of Grandpa Marchek now.

He had several in his house. When we cleaned out the house we left the nicest one (at the time) for Granny Marchek~ Scott took an old organ I'm pretty sure is a fire hazard and I'm afraid to plug in, Scott's aunt wanted the black one but sent it home with me to "clean up", and there is still an old HUGE player piano in the garage at Granny's house. If it were not for the planned move this summer I would volunteer to take on refinishing the player~ it's a fine looking piece and I think under all it's paint it's probably a real beauty! ~ I can't believe I would even consider another project like this! But the truth is I get a lot of satisfaction out of finding the beauty under all the ugly!

We do need to get together again before too long guys~ and when we do I'll plug in the organ and stand by with a fire extinguisher so you can play me a few songs!
 
JM :o) said:
Why do you say you don't agree the keys are ivory? I only say they most likely are as the guy at our local music store where I got the graphite told me that the 1936 date carved into the back of the keys means they are most likely ivory. I had thought they were plastic vaneer over wood when I cleaned them, but the man said in 1936 they almost had to be thin ivory glued onto the wood. Do you have some other information that may change my thinking on that?
Click to expand...
I meant I don't agree with an elephants tusk being used as a musical instrument. :)
Sorry if I made it sound like something else.
 
Oh~ okay. Well~ I don't particularly care for the practice either~ BUT IF those keys ARE Ivory then it is very old ivory (and I didn't do it!) I hate to have possibly done damage to them. IF they are ivory it would be shameful (in my opinion) to destroy them or damage them if it can be helped. Ivory has a legacy in not only the actual piano~ but also in the animal that contributed the ivory. IF the keys are plastic~ well then thats a whole different story now isn't it!
 
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