Post #22 - The Key Cover

After the etching on the front piece, you might have thought that the key cover would be a piece of cake. No etching, no gold flake/inlay - just a cleanup job and putting it back in place.

Um, no.

Unlike the other pieces, the key cover is seen on BOTH sides - you see one side when it's closed, you see the other when it's open.  Then, there's the 4+ foot long brass hinge.  And finally, there's the piano maker's label that has to be preserved.

 

 

 

And let's not forget the music stand/holder...   Already removed in this photo.

 

 

As I started on this final piece of the exterior refinishing, I was starting to wish I was doing the etching again.

First, the brass hinge.  As there was obviously no way to go to Home Depot to replace this hinge, it had to be cleaned - and carefully.  Bend it, kink it, do anything at all bad to it, and we're talking an expensive custom replacement.

Yes, that seam is the hinge...  And this is what it looks like when you remove the 30-40 screws that hold it in place:

 

I invested in a large quantity of Brasso and left the hinge soaking (one segment at a time; I do not own any kind of container that is over four feet long), while I went back to cleaning up the wood.

Deciding that I would rather know sooner than later if I was going to screw up or wreck the Cadby logo, I started on that side of the lid first.  I cannot tell you the amount of care that went into testing whether any one (or all) of the cleaners I had been using would clean not just the wood but the label itself.

 

Luckily, after dabbing, swiping, rubbing, and praying, everything seemed to be working out well.  Then I got bolder and just cleaned the whole damn thing.  And it worked...

After that, doing the flip side was a cakewalk.  Clean.  Stain.  Polish.

Done

Finally, it was assembly time.  After all that work - this is what we ended up with:

 

And, finally, with the lid and the music holder back on:

To say that I was pleased (and I believe my wife is just as happy) is such an understatement.  I had no idea, when I started, if this could be done.  Which is how I like to do things, I guess...  The credit goes to the original builders of this piano - the foundation was superb.  All I really did was clean the grime off of it and show it just a bit of love (in the form of cleaners and polishers and stains, and a tad of elbow grease).

But...  It may look good (imho, and you may disagree freely), but the damn thing still doesn't PLAY.  I bang the keys when I walk past, and I cringe.  It's out of tune (badly) and it's out of tune with itself.

If I spent the $250 to but it and another $100 or so to repair and all I end up with it a good looking piece of furniture - well, I can live with that.  But that's not why I bought it - I want it playable.  And that's not going to be easy and maybe not even possible.

But that's where the second half of this saga starts.  The tuning kit and all the manuals and CDs and everything else has arrived (and, yes, while catching this blog up, they have been played with).

I don't really know how this will end, but - man - it's been fun so far.  And I've always wanted to try to tune a piano.  And now I have my chance.  The only unfortunate part is that Victoria will have to deal with the piano in pieces again.  I actually finished the refinishing part at the end of August and it was the end of October when the tuning kit arrived, so she's had three months of an assembled piece of furniture.  With a great deal of luck - a GREAT deal - maybe she'll get an assembled musical instrument when this is finished.

Stay tuned.  We're traveling for the next couple of days, but I'll pick up with the tuning part (not many pretty pictures, though) when we get back.