How would you cut apart a piano?

[Red88chevy]

Well for a couple of months now my neighbor has been wanting me to cut up an old piano that has been sitting on their back porch for years. At first I was reluctant to destory a musical instrument, but my wife, who is also a pianist, assures me that is no longer playable as it has too much sand in it (windy area!). So, does anyone have any ideas of how to take it apart other than tearing into it with a Skil saw?

Thanks for your help,
Doug

[gwyneth]

Are you going to salvage the wood or try to re-use any of it?

If not, get a chain saw and attack.

If you are, the same way you'd demo anything...with care, piece by piece. I'd suggest a rotozip would probably be easier and safer than a circular saw.

Depending on the age and condition, there might be some nice wood under the paint. Cut the wood into as large pieces as possible.

Some of the sub-assemblies may be recyclable--legs/trestles into tables or benches, etc.

[Red88chevy]

I'm going to try to reuse it, so wanting to keep the destruction to a minimum.
I've peeked into the front and back and it looks like it has some decent pieces of some type of hardwood. Don't recognize it and not sure what wood they make pianos out of. Good idea about the rotozip, that would be easier. Yes I wish pianos had 4 legs, they would look nice on a table!

[gslyons]

Please don't forget to use extra caution. The piano's strings are under considerable tension, and if broken could whip out and cause some nasty cuts. It's quite possible that being outside in the weather may have loosened or broken some, but don't count on that.

~g

[cabinetman]

First I would have a piano expert tell you that it's scrap before you demo it. There may be pieces in its innards worth saving for their individual value to a piano repair shop. If not, consider that some tables are three legged.

[jking]

Please don't forget to use extra caution. The piano's strings are under considerable tension, and if broken could whip out and cause some nasty cuts. It's quite possible that being outside in the weather may have loosened or broken some, but don't count on that.

~g

I'm going to echo this advice. Consider what would happen if you walked up to a guitar & cut the strings...Watch out! Same thing with a piano except alot more strings. Cabinetman's advice is also wise. If there's nothing of value to a piano repair shop, cut the paino up as best suits your needs. Just make sure you de-tension the strings first.

[Uncle Cracker]

It would really be hard for me to resist the impulse to use dynamite for this job... It would make a great YouTube bit...

[Greg in Maryland]

I would suggest a Trebuchet

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F92FQdnLlSc

Greg

[phrog]

Caution

gslyons gave great advice - proceed with caution. A grand piano's strings are under so much tension they use iron instead of brass for the strings to be attached to. (Yeah, I know, a preposition is the wrong word to end a sentence with.) The brass will warp under so much tension. They paint the iron to look like brass to give it a more sophisticated look. Bottom line, all piano strings are under great tension and can maim or kill if suddenly let loose.

Also, it's impossible to find real ivory keys today. If the piano is very old and has real ivory (as most old ones did), you might want to keep them for their value. Real ivory usually has a slightly warm look after aging a few years. Today's plastics usually don't.

Older pianos acquire a more mellow sound that new ones don't have. If at all possible, I would want a piano expert to look at it to see if it is salvageable.
Just my opinion after having worked on an old one and playing many old ones.
Richard

[TheRic]

I would check with Joe Defazio he is a piano repair/re-builder/tuner/etc. person, I remember him talking about the inner workings a little while back. He might be able to give you some tips on what to watch for, type of woods that are used at various locations, etc.

Might be helpful to him on what brand / model / type of piano it is. Would not surprise me that different woods are used by different manufacturer over the years. With the same piano having a couple of different species of wood.

[williwatt]

Dismantling a piano

Once you decide to tear into the piano, I would think that a Fein Multimaster would be my tool of choice to cut into it without totally destroying it. There is a website that details how to remove various components of a piano and finally how to dismantle or destroy it. And yes, two of the tools that they use in the final operation is a sledge hammer and a chain saw.

http://www.balaams-ass.com/piano/17-destr.htm

[Mr__Bill]

Having moved a number of pianos.....
They come apart real easy, a few tools and you have a pile of pieces that one person can easily move. First De-tune the piano if you are taking the harp off of the sounding board.
The harp will make a great "musical toy" for some kids.

Two people should be able to completely disassemble a piano in about 15 minutes but a group of kids can spend a whole day having a great time of it

bill.

err... ok the harp may well take a small group of people but the rest is manageable.

[mashtun]

Dismantling a piano

Well I wasn't going to reply, because everyone else covered all the cautions correctly, but having Mr Bill suggest the sound board would be a good toy for the kids made me want to say something.

I read an entire book on Piano repair in the hopes of helping my friend repiar one she had.

One of the quote in the book were that a properly tuned sound boar has any where form 20 to 30 TONS of pressure from the strings trying to fold it in half!

Another thing the book stressed in many places was to never never ever pluck a string on the sound board like a guitar. Especially on a piano that has been exposed to the elements. Old rusted piano strings can just be holding on, and one pluck will cause it to break.

We had one break on my friend's piano. Luckily we wern't behind it. The string cut though a large Double thick cardboard box like it was paper.

On top of all this the Iron part of the sound board is any where from 300 to 500 Lbs, so if a kid pulls it over, and if any one can pull it over, it would be a kid, then they would not be in good shape if it fell on them.

John

[vaking]

Just a little addition - Piano may have up to 8 diffrent types of wood in it.

[bthere]

Ok, so I have to say it: For any musical instrument, you should use a "Band" saw.