New House New Project

Apparently I can’t stand life without a major project sullying my house.  I made a point of finding a new home in Washington that wouldn’t require TLC and to a point succeeded (it needs a few paint touchups). Despite these efforts, I’ve fallen into a project (thankfully) smaller than a house, but definitely bigger than a scrap book: my great-grandmother’s piano.

It’s been sitting at my uncle’s house for some 30 years and has hardly been touched, except by the dogs that gnawed on a few corners.

It was born in California (I’m still trying to find the exact year), moved to Wyoming, then Colorado, and has made its way back to the west coast and into my little living room. It’s at least 75 yrs. old.

 

It was a bit of a mess when we settled it in our new place. My first task was to clean the exterior, which I did with a little vinegar, olive oil, and all of my lemon essential oil. Dear mom, please send more. 

Then, after watching a hundred YouTube videos and conferencing with my dad a few times, I took it apart.

Lift lid, unscrew music holder

Loosen bolts and carefully lift action out

Order hardware and don't lose any!

Eight tiny screws to loosen the fall board

No wonder these keys weren't working

Wiggle each key out individually

Keep them in order!

And I thought the outside was dirty! So glad dad lent me his shop vac!

Bad news, though, I had the filter on wrong and it blew basically all of this dust/dirt/birdseed into my living room. Add a few days to clean up time.

Gross. I love my grandpa's birds, but they shouldn't eat and play piano at the same time!

Three generations of dust, dirt, and skin cells!

The knee board actually just snaps in

Treasure!

I took the action and the keys out to the garage to dust them off. Crazy! There are so many little parts in that action! And so many little spaces that are still filthy—there was just no way to clean them out. 

Finally, a much cleaner piano:

But a much more dusty house!