Fw: 1852 Chickering grand plate, 9'

[Mike McCoy]

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I must admit  I did not look to see if the plate bolts were accessible, =
if not then maybe the drilling idea makes sense. I think the idea was to =
drill down through the inner rim WITHOUT disturbing the veneer face of =
the inner rim, then sawing from hole to hole and removing the inner rim =
in one piece, after replacing the inner rim the holes and saw cuts are =
filled with epoxy... then the rim top veneer is replaced.... in theory =
it sounds like it may work, but man... drilling a 9' rim is a lot of =
holes.....=20

Mike

----- Original Message -----=20
From: Larry Hofer=20
To: mjmccoy@usa.com ; pianotech@ptg.org=20
Cc: pianotech@ptg.org=20
Sent: Sunday, May 25, 2003 12:31 AM
Subject: Re: 1852 Chickering grand plate, 9'




On Fri, 23 May 2003 13:24:21 -0400 "Mike McCoy" <mjmccoy@usa.com> =
writes:
  List,

   Looked at the above piano a customer has in his refinishing shop. The =
plate in mortised into the rim like some squares. Someone told him to =
drill a million holes down through the inside of the rim and saw the =
inner rim out to remove the plate, that doesn't seem right to me, seems =
that would make fitting a new board more difficult. For those who have =
dealt with this in the past, can the stretcher be removed and the rim =
pushed apart slightly with a jack or whatever and the plate slid =
forward? Or knock the rim apart completely? Or am I the nutty one...

  Mike

  Mike McCoy RPT
  Chapters 170 & 190 PTG
  Langhorne, Pa
  mailto:mjmccoy@usa.com

  Mike,
        I too have an old Chickering in my shop for rebuilding and =
refinishing like the one you describe. What first caught my eye was that =
there did not appear to be any perimeter screws holding the plate down. =
There are, but they are under the "inner rim". It looks to me that the =
plate was installed in a normal way and then this inner rim was glued in =
above the plate and the veneer was put over it.
           So....... some how this has to be reversed to get the plate =
out. Drilling lots of holes in this rim or attacking it with a big =
chisel and hammer will sooner or later remove it so the plate will come =
out. But then what? What do you do with the inside of this chopped up =
rim after the rebuild and the plate is back in the piano. Should a new =
"inner rim be made and glued in over the plate? Where would you get some =
rosewood veneer that would even come close to matching the rest of the =
cabinet? Could the original veneer some how be steamed off and saved to =
be re glued later? After all, much of the value and appeal of a piano =
like this is in the beautiful fancy rosewood case. It will have to look =
good inside and out.
  I along with Mike I would like to hear if anyone has tackled a piano =
like this. Were you able to get the plate out and how did you do it? =
What was done to the inside of the rim after the plate was put back in?

  Thanks
  Larry Hofer=20
  Corona Ca.
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