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Hi guys. I need to remove the front part of this upright piano from the back part so I can lay it on its back and pull the plate. The only screws I see holding it together are in the circled area. Any idea how the rest of it is held together? Are the joined parts without screws simply glued together?

Thanks.

In most cases, all those parts are glued.

Thanks BDB. So how do you get it apart without destroying the piano?

What fun is that?

I do not know how it was put together in the first place. I would look carefully at the joints where pieces come together and decide what is risk to the veneer. Imagine how it might have been put together. The back was constructed, and everything was glued to it in a specific order. You need to reverse that order. You need to hope that none of the veneer was put on after everything else was glued together. This is going to be difficult with the finish that is usually on these old pianos. You may have to probe with single-edged razor blades or things like that.

There are some antique restorers who have videos on YouTube, so you might look at some of them. They demonstrate techniques that might work, but there are no guaranties. There are no sure-fire guides.

Oh, I don't need that much fun! I actually see on YouTube there are folks restringing without removing the front part. They just lay piano on its back and fish the strings behind the keybed. So, I think that's a better option that trying to bang the piano apart. Only thing is I can't remove harp to repaint. Maybe I can try masking off soundboard and paint harp in place.

Very newbie question... Is the key bed glued also?

Before you start bashing stuff, have a really good look round for hidden screws! I worked on an upright a few years ago and was convinced the cheeks were glued in as they still didn’t move with all the screws removed. I used a strong magnet, and discovered more screws under the keybed; it turned out that the keybed slid out, revealing another pair of screws on each cheek, which finally let me remove them. Preparing and painting the frame outside the case will be so much easier!👍😊

Usually the keybed supports are glued and screwed, but the keybed itself is not. I usually tilt the piano on its back and remove the screws under the keybed and then lift it out. It looks like the front legs are integrated to the supports so you will have to see how the keybed works around that. I have also had some that have dowels into the the supports, but they were not glued.

I am working on a 1915 Steinway K and those parts all came off after removing the screws. I don’t know if they were originally glued and the glue failed over time, but they did come off.

My piano suffered moisture damage and lost much of its veneer so it wouldn’t surprise me if there was glue in these parts. I haven’t looked closely to see if there was.

By the way, I read one time that these pianos were designed to remove the key bed to enable easier moving into small NYC apartments. Made sense to me.

Good luck with your project it looks to be a beautiful piece.

I think you’re in luck, I just noticed “Separable Case” printed on the plate. It must have been a salable feature.

Good catch WB. I'll look for more screws, hopefully what's written on the plate is true!

P
Hi Emory, any progress?

When I pulled my piano apart I removed the key frame. I think it was screwed in from the bottom. It could be the side block screws were revealed after the key frame was out. Hard to remember as it was many years ago ad that project got pushed way back. I can’t get to it right now to verify but I thought it might be of some help for you.
-Bill

I've used an oscillating tool to separate furniture pieces that were edge glued. If you can get to the backside of the joint you can separate the joint with almost no damage to the veneer. It will still work from the face side but you'll have to do a little touch up where the joint comes together.