Fw: 1852 Chickering grand plate, 9'

[gordon stelter]

I have a lot of rosewood veneer saved up, if you need
it.
     Thump
--- Mike McCoy <mjmccoy@usa.com> wrote:
> 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..... 
> 
> Mike
> 
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: Larry Hofer 
> To: mjmccoy@usa.com ; pianotech@ptg.org 
> Cc: pianotech@ptg.org 
> 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 
>   Corona Ca.


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