Antique Piano Restoration

Have you ever wanted to own your own piece of musical history? Have you looked through the classified ads offering a piano for free if only you will come and take it away? Have you spent time browsing through flea markets looking at pianos wondering if you could ever make it look beautiful and sound great again? Very few pianos are made in the manner that the instruments of yesteryear were. Almost all pianos constructed for general use today are electronic due tot heir ease of use and flexibility in teaching people to play. Uprights are still manufactured for school use, but the home piano is really non-existent.

If you want to find a serviceable piano for use at home you will find that most models are very expensive when purchased at a retail piano store. Finding an antique piano and beginning an antique piano restoration can be a great project for the whole family. The key to doing the majority of the process yourself is to find an instrument whose exterior is much the worse for wear but still sounds relatively good. Even if a piano is out of tune that does not mean that it needs extensive interior restoration.

A couple of things you will need to know before investing in a candidate for antique piano restoration is the state of the keys, integrity of the sound board, hammers and strings, integrity of the action and whether the exterior is a veneer or solid wood. If you can find a piano that has a solid wood exterior, an action and keys that are in good shape your antique piano restoration will go smoothly. With a solid wood exterior stripping the case is made simple with a variety of products available to do it yourself furniture refinishers around the country. Simple Orange, Formsby and a variety of other finish removers can be used to strip the varnish, shellac, lacquer and stain, paint or other finish from the exterior wood. Once you have removed everything down to the bare wood, you will need to consider the blemishes that are visible to the naked eye.

For a truly spectacular finish you need to apply wood filler with grain to eliminate the depressions and crevices from damage over the years. Once you have applied the filler and allowed it to dry repeated sanding and wiping with progressively finer sand paper is required until you have a uniformly smooth surface. Make sure that you remove all remaining wood dust from the area before the next step of applying any sort of finish. The type of finish you want to use will depend on the type of piano you have chosen for the antique piano restoration. If it is an upright you will probably want to just bring out the grain of the wood it was made of. If it is a grand or baby grand piano you will want a high gloss finish to stand out in its place of glory.

These require two totally different processes to achieve the desired results. If you want to enhance the appearance of the wood grain, you will not want to use a colored stain as they tend to obscure the wood grain. The first step after getting down to the bare wood is to add a very thin coating of shellac to fill in even the smallest of imperfections in the wood that your sanding has missed. After the shellac, the addition of several layers of varnish can bring a rich glow to the wood. Please be sure to and down each coat between applications to insure a smooth as glass finish. Once you have applied the requisite number of coats to achieve your results you will need to add either a high gloss clear coat or a satin finish clear coat depending on the final result you desire.

I have addressed mostly the exterior in regards to antique piano restoration as that is the process most easily tackled by the average person. For the best overall results, exterior restoration should be your last step after addressing any issues with keys, action, sound board or the belly of the instrument by professionals. With any instrument the smooth translation of the action into music is what separates good instruments from bad. If your keys, sound board, strings and overall action do not work together at best you will get a mediocre sound from the instrument.