Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Forum Renovating the case of my piano

Hi, I'm new to this - also new on the piano lessons. I've had an old J&J Hopkinson upright piano for years, and would love to tidy up the case/exterior (can't afford to get it done professionally). I've heard that you shouldn't use chemicals in both the stripping or varnishing. Does anyone have any suggestions please. Many thanks.

It's gonna be pretty tuff to strip that piano without using any chemicals,I think. Thats means you gotta scrape the entire case which would be tortureous.

It depends on what your idea of tidying up the case would be. When a finish is not that old,some will do a minor refinish whereas they don't strip it to the wood. They just wetsand it and shoot multple coats of ? and rub it out or not depending on the type of finish.
On your piano,I would assume you could not do that,in that the finish being as old as your piano would definitely need to be stripped.
Try that "Howards Restorex" I've never tried it myself for obvious reasons but hey! They sell it,people buy it! Maybe worth a shot!

Many thanks for your advice - I feel embarrassed even asking this question in the forum ... I'd just like to tidy it a little before I have it moved into the lounge and tuned, so it can be played and enjoyed

Make sure you have it tuned at least once before you put any major work into the cabinet. You wouldn't want to find out the pinblock is bad after you've put a lot of time into it.

Mmmh good idea - think I'll get a tuner in before I do anything. Many thanks.