Free piano for the wood?

[dennis thompson]

There are several free pianos available near me. Has anyone ever gotten a piano and just broken it down for the wood?
Thanks

[Jim Koepke]

My brother did this years ago with a pump organ from the 1890s. The black keys were ebony. The better old pianos may have white keys made with ivory.

Have heard in the east houses often include a piano when sold. Everyone had one a century ago. Nobody wants to move them.

jtk

[Ted Calver]

I have wanted to do the same thing, just to get the ebony and ivory for other projects. Never followed through because they are so hard to move.

[Alex Zeller]

My father bought an upright player piano with some sort of hope to do something with it. When he passed I had to remove it out of the basement. It had some of the nicest burled wood inside it but it was a veneer with a ton of holes. It was just on the sides. They keys were plastic so no value. In the end my step brother took the metal sound board (I guess that's what it's called) and most of the wood was thrown away. I suspect that the free pianos are not going to be the ones with wood worth saving. At best you would have to go and look at each one to try and determine if it's of value. That kind of means bringing the small army to move it only to decide it's not worth your time. It might be worth talking with a piano guy about which ones would be worth looking at.

[Dwayne Watt]

Pianos can be more or less disassembled in place if you have no desire for them to ever play again. A really old (decrepit) piano may be worth the work for the ebony. The wood on most pianos is simply veneer and not worth much.
The case from smaller grand pianos can be repurposed into a pretty cool wall shelving unit. Not really my thing but a musician would appreciate it. Similarly, the carvings and turned posts on older upright pianos could be repurposed in an artful way.

[Doug Garson]

I often thought the metal "bones " of some pianos would make interesting sculpture if you had the space to display it, maybe garden art.

[Bert Kemp]

too bad I have no way to get this one
https://phoenix.craigslist.org/evl/atq/d/gilbert-piano/7275496747.html

[Bruce Volden]

I have a friend who converted an old piano into a bar. It had some nice lines and scrollwork.
That REALLY came out nice!

Bruce

[Dwayne Watt]

too bad I have no way to get this one
https://phoenix.craigslist.org/evl/atq/d/gilbert-piano/7275496747.html
That just might be real wood (rose wood, possibly, based on some other pianos of that age and manufacturer). That one could be worth some effort.

[Brian Elfert]

My parents have an upright grand piano with a broken sound board. They would like to give it away, but my father will only allow it to be moved by a piano mover.

My father is crazy if he thinks someone is going to spend money to move a piano with a broken sound board. I expect I might end up cutting it up with a saw when they move or pass on.

[Bert Kemp]

That just might be real wood (rose wood, possibly, based on some other pianos of that age and manufacturer). That one could be worth some effort.


just to much to do alone ya know

[John K Jordan]

There are several free pianos available near me. Has anyone ever gotten a piano and just broken it down for the wood?
Thanks

Dennis,

I've torn down a couple of upright pianos. It is quite a bit of work and some is glued together. There is usually not much useful wood in the piano case. An old and expensive piano might have some useful panels with nice figured veneer but most old pianos are pretty beat up.

The black keys of very old pianos used to be made of small pieces of ebony glued to the top of the key itself but not any more - they are some other wood blackened with what looks like dye to me. If you need ebony it would be better to just buy and get some more useful sizes. The white keys are made of wood and used to have a thin pieces of ivory glued to the top but now they have plastic glued on instead. Even my 7' concert grand piano bought maybe 35 years ago has plastic tops on the keys. I had a piano with ivories but I prefer playing on plastic. The thin pieces of ivory on the keys of very old pianos are not good for much except for replacing the broken or missing ivories on other pianos.

JKJ

[Mel Fulks]

Agree with John. There are a few exceptions, one place I worked had an old broken up piano that was made of old swetinia mahogany and
veneered with Brazilian rosewood ! I used to wonder if it’s lavishness was the reason it was torn to pieces.

[John K Jordan]

...my step brother took the metal sound board (I guess that's what it's called) and most of the wood was thrown away. ...

Probably doesn't matter much but the big cast iron part is the frame which supports the incredible tension from the strings (can be 15 to 20 tons). The sound board is made from narrow pieces wood glued together, usually spruce, 1/2" or thinner. The sound board is what transfers the sound from a vibrating string to the air.

[John K Jordan]

My parents have an upright grand piano with a broken sound board. They would like to give it away, but my father will only allow it to be moved by a piano mover.
My father is crazy if he thinks someone is going to spend money to move a piano with a broken sound board. I expect I might end up cutting it up with a saw when they move or pass on.

What is broken on the soundboard? People often worry unnecessarily when they see a crack. It's common for a soundboard to crack which might not even affect the sound. A piano technician friend said repairing a soundboard is common. Replacing a sound board is not even out of the question.

But is it a true "upright grand" like the 100 year old Steinway (a quite tall upright, rare and expensive) or "just" an upright. I understand some makers marketed their upright pianos as upright grands but they still, by necessity, had the same upright mechanisms (and feel) and limited string length/soundboard size. I could try look it up if you have the maker and model number (should be inside).

[Brian Elfert]

What is broken on the soundboard? People often worry unnecessarily when they see a crack. It's common for a soundboard to crack which might not even affect the sound. A piano technician friend said repairing a soundboard is common. Replacing a sound board is not even out of the question.

But is it a true "upright grand" like the 100 year old Steinway (a quite tall upright, rare and expensive) or "just" an upright. I understand some makers marketed their upright pianos as upright grands but they still, by necessity, had the same upright mechanisms (and feel) and limited string length/soundboard size. I could try look it up if you have the maker and model number (should be inside).

All I know is what my parents have told me. The piano won't stay in tune for very long after being tuned which is assumed to be due to the cracked sound board.

The piano is much larger than other upright pianos I have seen. All I know is my parents said it is an upright grand piano. I probably won't be able to visit my parents for some time as they are in their early 70s and don't want visitors with COVID.

[John K Jordan]

All I know is what my parents have told me. The piano won't stay in tune for very long after being tuned which is assumed to be due to the cracked sound board.
...


I can understand your parent's reluctance for visitors right now. I'm pushing 71 and I don't want visitors in the house either!

It would be interesting to know if most of the piano went out of tune, if it was mostly confined to either the treble or bass strings (it could be one bridge is splitting/cracking - a disaster) or if some notes are going out of tune, perhaps with themselves (notes where one hammer hits two or three strings can sound horrible if one string goes out of tune) One thing that can cause strings to go out of tune are loose tuning pins. These are seated in a block of wood at one end of the frame and connected to the frame on the other end, passing over the bridge.

The bridge does press on the soundboard and the tuning can change a little with seasonal humidity - this can make the pitch of the whole piano go up a little then down a little. But unless the ribs are broken or detached (which I think would result in a horrible sound quality) I can't imagine the soundboard affecting the tuning every time soon after the piano is tuned. A soundboard with cracks even big enough to see light through may not even have much affect on the sound quality. If things are broken and loose you might hear a buzzing sound instead of a clear tone.

The tuning pins, however, can loosen in the pinblock. The pins have shallow spiral "threads" and are turned like a screw when tuning. The wood around the pin can dry out or deteriorate and the the tension of the strings can cause the pins to loosen. There are some fixes, one involves a using a liquid to saturate, swell, and harden the wood. A piano tuner/technician I know used something that smelled like lacquer to me (we used it on a player piano I was rebuilding) but I've heard of this done now with thin super glue.

Poor tuning technique is another thing that cause a piano to go out of tune not long after it is tuned.

A good piano tuner should be able to tell by feel if the pins are loose. A tuner/technician could examine the piano and without charging too much probably tell quickly what's wrong. Note that some piano tuners might not be able to do much more than tune, but a piano technician can tune, diagnose, and repair.

JKJ

[Bill Dufour]

Years ago, in the fall, someone threw a old broken upright away. I broke out the internal wood key levers etc. It made great dry kindling. I suppose it would have made a nice fireplace surround.
Bill D.

[John K Jordan]

Years ago, in the fall, someone threw a old broken upright away. I broke out the internal wood key levers etc. It made great dry kindling. I suppose it would have made a nice fireplace surround.
Bill D.

I found a craftsman in Venice, Italy who repurposed "junk" into 100s of things to sell in his shop. I bought a little articulated man he made from pieces of a piano action.

452414 452413

And bought a few other things too.
(I like to support the local artists in whatever locale I find myself.)

JKJ

[Zachary Hoyt]

After voting on Election Day in 2004 I took the scenic route home on my bicycle and found a rotten piano lying near the side of the road at the end of the driveway. I was interested in the pins, for making harps and hammered dulcimers, so I went back a couple of times till I found the person who owned the house. He said the house had been empty for a long time and the roof had leaked on the piano, and he had taken it out there and was intending to push it into a gully nearby when he had help. I asked if I could have the pin block and he said to help myself. I got 240 pins and though they were rusty they worked fine once I cleaned them up on a wire wheel. The wood on that piano was all much too water damaged to save, it was in very bad shape. Once I used them all up I began buying zither pins, which are smaller and thus a bit easier to tune.

[John K Jordan]

... I was interested in the pins, for making harps and hammered dulcimers,... Once I used them all up I began buying zither pins, which are smaller and thus a bit easier to tune.

Zachary, do you have a good source for zither pins? In his book "A Psimple Psaltery" Eric Meier lists three sources for zither pins but I haven't tried looking for them yet. (I've had a bowed psaltery for decades and I'd really like to make one!)

BTW, almost a 1/2 century ago I took my old upright piano apart with saws, sledge hammer, and crowbar, threw the pieces off the front porch, then hauled it all to the dump. (A "scavenger" there almost cried, she had been looking for one.) The problem I had was immediate - that piano was almost worthless and I had bought a replacement a few days before and it was to be delivered the next day! Couldn't find someone to help move it out in time. I did save a lot of the strings, the big wood screws, and all of the tuning pins which were in great shape. Used the pins and wire for years in various projects.

JKJ

[Zachary Hoyt]

I used to get them from Stew-Mac, and I see now that they still stock them, though I imagine there may be cheaper sources too. I haven't bought any in maybe 10 years or so, as I haven't been building harps and hammered dulcimers since I got going on banjos and guitars and fiddles which seem to be more in demand. I'd like to start making them again, once I have gone to building instruments full time in a year or two.

https://www.stewmac.com/parts-and-hardware/all-hardware-and-parts-by-instrument/dulcimer-parts/tuning-pin.html

[Ernie Miller]

Try these folks. (https://manufacturing.dustystrings.com/hammered-dulcimers/accessories-hardware/hardware/zither-pins)

[Zachary Hoyt]

That's a great price.

[Wade Lippman]

I've taken two apart for the wood and found nothing of value.
However... the harps make great mooring weights.

[Ernie Miller]

I'm sure I posted this in a previous similar thread, but please don't cut the strings off. Spend a few bucks and get a tuning hammer. Loosen every other string from bottom to top - then go back and loosen the remaining strings. Once all of the tension has been removed, you can safely do whatever you want. 30 to 60 tons of string tension is nothing to fool with. An abrupt change in tension caused by cutting the strings off before releasing the tension can result in an imploding cast iron plate. You don't want to be on the receiving end of that.

[John K Jordan]

I used to get them from Stew-Mac, and I see now that they still stock them, though I imagine there may be cheaper sources too. I haven't bought any in maybe 10 years or so, as I haven't been building harps and hammered dulcimers since I got going on banjos and guitars and fiddles which seem to be more in demand. I'd like to start making them again, once I have gone to building instruments full time in a year or two.

https://www.stewmac.com/parts-and-hardware/all-hardware-and-parts-by-instrument/dulcimer-parts/tuning-pin.html

Thanks. I need only 25 plus a few spares.

I did finally check the sources listed in the Psimple Psaltry book:

$0.50 each, blued or nickel: https://www.elderly.com/collections/all/products/blued-zither-pin
About the same here: https://www.folkcraft.com/collections/building-supplies-plans
A bit cheaper here: https://www.harpkit.com/standard-zither-pin.html

He does list Stewmac but doesn't mention pins in the description. I love their scrapers, BTW.

JKJ

[Roger Feeley]

We have a sort of odd looking hope chest. I'm told that it was made from the casework of an old home pump organ (harmonium). I like the idea of down-cycling some of these antiques that have no value in their present form.

I took a friends headboard that he didn't want and turned it into a serving tray while preserving the carved signature of some ancestor.
I have wood from a building on the ranch where my father was raised in Montana.
I have wood from the house where my mother was born.
I inherited my fathers first desk which was really a printers table. It was a dreadfully uncomfortable desk and I had no use for it. I broke it down for some later project.

[John K Jordan]

I'm sure I posted this in a previous similar thread, but please don't cut the strings off. Spend a few bucks and get a tuning hammer. Loosen every other string from bottom to top - then go back and loosen the remaining strings. Once all of the tension has been removed, you can safely do whatever you want. 30 to 60 tons of string tension is nothing to fool with. An abrupt change in tension caused by cutting the strings off before releasing the tension can result in an imploding cast iron plate. You don't want to be on the receiving end of that.

Good reminder. I used my tuning hammer to loosen but to remove the pins to save them I used an electric drill - it takes a lot of turning to remove one and there are over 200 in a typical piano! (BTW, for those unfamiliar a tuning hammer is a fancy name for the wrench that fits the pins.)