Grand piano repair question

Glenn Grafton gleng@fast.net
Wed, 01 May 1996 09:15 -0400 (EDT)


>Dear Friends on Pianotech,
>
>I have a problem:
>
>-1930's Vose and Sons 5'7" grand (in poor condition) in a town 25 miles away
>-2 broken strings on said piano
>-about a dozen loose tuning pins in bass section (From dry winter)
>-long screw running through leg plate into bass end of keyframe
snip
>Question:  Is it possible for one person to remove and replace a grand piano
>leg by themselves (and live to tell about it) and if so, what is the proper
>procedure?
>
>Thank you for your indulgence of my Associate-level Question.
>
>Sincerely,
>
>
>David A. Vanderhoofven

Sure!

All you need is something to set the piano on that is a little taller than
the piano leg and of course strong enough to support the size grand. If you
have nothing on hand, a saw horse could be constructed with pre-fab
hardware available at most hardware stores. Lift the corner where the leg
is that you want to remove and slide it under.

Since the piano is some distance away you could call the customer and ask
them to mesaure the distance from under the piano and the floor and add an
inch or two.

With a 5'7" piano you should have no problem lifting the corner and sliding
the support under the piano with a free foot, or ask the customer to slide
it under while you lift. I have done this with grands as large as 7'4" with
no problem-but I used to move pianos. Another method of lifting the piano
at one corner is to get under the corner on all fours and arch your back
up-you can lift a fairly large piano this way, and slide under the support.

Glenn Grafton
Grafton Piano & Organ Co.





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