what to do with very old piano?

[marco_from_brazil]

hi folks, since I picked up the piano again and have started college, I had a tuner make my piano playable again, I have a Bentley console ( not a spinet ), 59 years old. 

I've recently got an excellent book about piano servicing by Art Reblitz and I read it all the time, but back then I knew next to nothing about pianos, so he charged me big bucks and all he did was tune it ( a bit flat from A440 ) and replace the old dampers, no regulation whatsoever. 

now it's in pretty bad shape.. hammers have DEEP grooves, the action looks all messy, keys need 2 pounds of force to go down...

I can already hear some of you saying "toss it in the dump", but to its favor, the piano holds its tune pretty well and I actually like the way it sounds... it's a bit on the bright side, but since new hammers would be softer, it could mellow out a bit, I think.

so: toss it in the dump, or spend some 400 to 500 dollares in new hammers, felts, springs, glue, some tools and learn and do all by myself? 

has anyone in the forum been through something like that, trying to restore an old piano ( actually more and old piano ACTION ) with good results?

regards,
Marco

[iumonito]

Your results will not be good, but you will have fun, learn a lot and not loose much money.

Better to find an old grand and do it there.  The mechanism is simpler and the results will be better.

I bet this makes a lovely cabinet.

[arensky]

If the tone is good, there's hope. But you might want to take a piano tech course before diving into the action on your own, that's complex stuff. I say give it a try, but don't be too bummed out if it doesn't work. 

[daniloperusina]

New hammers are not necesserally softer; with some manufacturers you have to specify "soft, medium or hard pressed".

I'm all the time deep inside my instruments with tools in my hands! It's enormously good fun! And what you get to understand about your instrument...

"..hammers have DEEP grooves.."
File them down!

"..the action looks all messy.."
Tidy it up!

"..keys need 2 pounds of force to go down.."
Ease them up! Lot's of factors involved here! Dampers are supposed to start lifting when hammers have travelled half the way. Some pins are supposed to be with more friction, some with less. Take out an action part and measure, compare with Reblitz' figures for those pins. Is the jack and the hammer butt working smoothly, or causing excessive friction? Are the front- and backrails for the key itself working smoothly?

Do you see cracks anywhere on the soundboard?

There are so many factors involved in what makes a piano perform in a certain way, and many of these factors can be altered back and forth. It's not magic, it's physics.

Do it!