I started with a shell of a AB Chase baby grand. |
The plate, pinblock, and soundboard had been removed. |
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With the beams removed, the piano was flipped over to remove the keybed. |
The plan was to remove the rear leg mount and mount it to the keybed. |
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The other legs would retain in their original mounts. |
The original legs mounting hardware was morticed into the bottom the the
keybed. |
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While standing on three legs, the piece would not be safe from falling
forward. |
The pedal lyre mounted and positioned to contact the floor would solve
this problem. |
With the concept starting to materialize, I contacted my client for
input.
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At 25" deep, we were concerned that the piece would be too deep for her
home , so I removed 2" from the depth of the keybed. |
The extension of the case where the keybed was mounted needed to be
removed for the piece to position flat against the wall. |
The lower 8" ot the shell were cut to make a joint to mount to the new
"case arms" to increase stability. |
The arms were made of solid mahogany and were cut to the height of the
original fallboard. |
This dry run shows how I planned to use the original fallboard.
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The new arms would be mounted to the keybed. |
Alignment pins and screws would be used to fasten the upper section o
the keybed. |
The new arms were cut to align with the fallboard and keyslip board.
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Raising the upper section into the arm joints shows how the section
would come together with great stability. |
This joint would be both strong and well balanced to carry such a tall
piece. |
This is a "masking tape" layout on the back to anticipate shelf layout.
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Changing gears t oremove the original finish and reveal the stunning
mahogany. |
The shelves would be datoed into the "lower rim of the piano case. |
Locating the dato joint of the upper shelf. |
Cutting the dato joint. |
The shelves wre made of baltic birch.
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Solid mahogany fronts were glued to the shelves. |
The original lid was notched to fit as a lower shelf. |
This lid would slide into place.
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The case and cabinet arms are glued together. |
Layout of the solid mahogant face to be glued to the original inner rim
of the case. |
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The lid has a 1" strip added to the outer underside for strength. |
The fallboard and keyslip are fitted to bring the piece to a comfortable
visual balance. |
Under the fallboard, I made a "slide in keybed" component to tie the
fallboard to the keybed. |
Small drawers wer made to fill the void between the opened fallboard and
the new keybed. |
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Back to the lyre, I made a new bottom to accomodiate a roller ball. |
The lyre was mounted on toe new block to be the same height as teh legs
with casters. |
With the woodworking complete, it was time to prepare the piece for
finishing |
Sanding the new 1/2" thick new keybed in preparation for dye. |
Dye application. |
A color very close to the original mahogany. |
After a shellac sealer, multiple coats of nitrocellulose lacquer are
applied. |
The beautiful mahogany has come back to life.
The hardware |
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The original hardware was solid brass. |
And would polish to a beautiful satin sheen. |
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A replaca of the original decal. |
Mounted and lacquer topcoated. |
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