<div>The talk of recycling reminded me of a "job" I was requested to do about this time last year. The receptionist at my denstist had been after me and after me about how to take apart and remove the old upright in her living room. It seems it had been brought in through a large sliding glass door from her back yard since her house is a split level and the piano wouldn't fit that way. She had since added a deck which she was certain wouldn't stand the weight of the piano, so it had to go out the front, in pieces. I explained how to break the strings, etc. and she felt it was worth it to pay my time for me to do it. I arranged to stop at the end of a short workday and she agreed to have help available. </div> <div>When I arrived, there was an older looking man there who was very willing to do whatever I said, we removed all of the easily removable parts, front, top, action, keys, keyframe, cheekblocks, keyslip, kickboard, I began breaking the strings with my becket breaker and hammer and after I had moved on past the bass he began pulling them out from the bottom and shoving them in a barrel. We did this with all of the strings then began backing out pins with a drill and throwing them in the barrel, we removed all of the pins and upper plate screws. We then started on the desk screws on the sides, removed them and whaked them loose with a maul, I then removed the nuts on the nose bolts and the trap work and lower plate screws. We Lifted the plate out and leaned it against the wall, laid the shell of the piano down removed the bottom board, toe rail and toe blocks. We then knocked the sides off and carried the back structure/soundboard out to the attached garage. We came back and did the same with the plate, the receptionist arrived home about then and we talked for a few minutes I found out my "helper" was 65 and had just worked his last day at his job for a local construction supply house that day. We took the back structure out in the driveway and knocked it apart and I loaded all but the soundboard in my truck, the backposts were intact as was the pinblock! I took the sides, front, kickboard, top, desk, fallboard, bottomboard w/trapwork and action. I left the strings, actionframe and keys. </div> <div> </div> <div>The cabinet parts will serve as table tops or other things in my shop, the backposts and pinblock are good hard maple and will also find a home in my shop the action parts will find their way into other pianos or be passed to one of the newbies in the chapter. The hardware is already in my parts cabinet. I already have 2 boxes of keys and a spare action frame so I let those go to the land fill, the metal; strings, pins, plate, screws, went to the local metal recycler.  </div> <div> </div> <div> </div> <div>Oh yeah and she paid me for 2 hours labor!</div> <div> </div> <div>Mike<br clear="all"><br>-- <br>The way some people find fault, you'd think there was some kind of reward.<br>Michael Magness<br>Magness Piano Service<br>608-786-4404<br><a href="http://www.IFixPianos.com">www.IFixPianos.com </a><br>email <a href="mailto:mike@ifixpianos.com">mike@ifixpianos.com</a> </div>