Press "Enter" to skip to content

DEATH OF A PIANO or “Wiggy learns to upcycle”

By The Archivist on June 18, 2012

[OOC]

WARNING: THIS POST CONTAINS IMAGES OF GRAPHIC PIANO VIOLENCE. If you love musical instuments, the following post may cause shock, and anxiety!

When I bought this house,  the previous owners left a piano behind.  It may look like a nice piano, but it was in very bad shape with so much work needed!  Several keys broken,  all the felt needed replacement, and the strings were rusted with a few broken.

[img_assist|nid=5375|title=|desc=|link=popup|align=middle|width=640|height=513]

THE PIANO BEFORE THE DEMOLITION

 

I’ve tried to sell it, even tried to give it away, and no takers.  So what to do?  Take it apart and make new stuff out of it!  So I started taking it apart…

 

[img_assist|nid=5376|title=|desc=|link=popup|align=middle|width=640|height=480]

THE FRONT COVER REMOVED

I didn’t really have a plan,  except to take it apart and see what the pieces suggested.  So, with hammer and chisel in hand I went to work.

 

[img_assist|nid=5377|title=|desc=|link=popup|align=left|width=640|height=480]

KEYBOARD REMOVED

Soon I had a pile of wood, and a pile of metal (strings, metal harp, hardware).  I started building and first made a bench from one of the piano sides and from the keybed.

[img_assist|nid=5378|title=|desc=|link=popup|align=left|width=640|height=480]

RECYCLED BENCH

Next, I made a cabinet from the top pieces of the piano.  I am especially happy with how this turned out.  I cut the “BAILY PIANO CO” metal logo off and placed in below the cabinet along with a few coathooks. I will soon finish the inside with red felt and letter boxes made from thin oak shelves. The cover is hinged and lifts up.

[img_assist|nid=5379|title=|desc=|link=popup|align=left|width=640|height=480]

RECYLED CABINET

All in all, I think was a good project.  I will take the metal to a recycler and hopefully get a few dollars for it.  I still have a lot of wood left over for other projects.  The total material that will go to the landfill is quite small, and I got a nice bench and cabinet out of the process! Maybe there is something to this ‘upcycling’ trend after all!

 

Spread the love

Published in Recovered Blog Post

The Archivist
The Archivist

Maintenance account for the Babbage Aethernet Reader (BAR) and archival records.

More from Recovered Blog PostMore posts in Recovered Blog Post »

5 Comments

  2. Tepic Harlequin Tepic Harlequin June 18, 2012

    That is ingenius and wonderful! An example to us all, thanks!

  3. Tesla Tripsa Tesla Tripsa June 18, 2012

    OH GOD THE HORROR!!!!!!

    Though I’m somewhat tempted to take apart my 188X Victorian upright that’s in storage now.  Perhaps someday when I actually have room for more furniture.  Beautiful work!  There seem to be a lot of old pianos that people can’t give away because no one wants to move them, you could make a small business out of this.

  4. Kristos Sonnerstein Kristos Sonnerstein June 22, 2012

    ::starts looking at the piano that plagued his childhood in a new light:: Though my mom seems to like it just fine as a picture stand. Very nice work, Mr. Wiggy! I love the idea of upcycling, but it seems to take more ingenuity than I keep in my skull anymore to see new ideas in something old with it’s own purpose already. I’m with Tesla though, you certainly could start a small business doing that!

  5. Wiggy Undertone Wiggy Undertone June 23, 2012

    Thanks for the nice comments!  This project was a lot more difficult than I thought it would be.  I doubt I would ever try to do this for profit.  Too time consuming.

    I may just be on the lookout for other old pieces of furniture though….

     

Leave a Reply