Building a grand piano

[recnepspencer]

I'm in the advanced levels of piano, but I'm in high school and I am nowhere even close to being able to afford a quality grand piano. Would it be possible to build a high quality grand piano for less than $5,000? I do love on a farm so I do have access to a lot of the tools Id need

[indianajo]

That hydraulic press in West Virginia, with the steam attachement that humidified the wrapper while it was bent, that is $$$$$$ to reproduce.  Not to mention the planer that wide. 
The iron casting is another $$$$$$ tooling setup that nobody outside of NYC or Boston has anymore. 
There was a Weber 80" grand in my county this week for $550, there was a chickering 62" in nelson Cty KY in December for $500.  Watch craigslist, spot a truck to rent and four friends, build a piano board, get a serious 1200 lb dolly or some UHMW sheets for skidding.  Build some ramps or spot where you can rent them.   
Personally, I'm not that fascinated with grands.  Huge space requirements, and you might move a few times before you settle down.  $600 a move I estimate.  My Sohmer 39 console is **** fast and sounds great too. 

[huaidongxi]

how many high quality vertical pianos in the 45 to 50 inch range have you tried out ?  kawais and yamahas seem to be a favorite of some pianists here and frequent youtube performers.  charles walter uses Renner actions in some of their upper tier verticals, the same company that Hamburger Steinway uses.  if you are patient and have time to look at and play through a number of instruments to compare, you might find a surprise.  in the old days, serious pianist composers, conductors, and world class pianists had tall (50 in. or bigger) uprights if they lived in apartments in older buildings  (composers or conductors could also line up their scores up and down and across the front of the instrument like a big easel).

[michael_c]

I'm in the advanced levels of piano, but I'm in high school and I am nowhere even close to being able to afford a quality grand piano. Would it be possible to build a high quality grand piano for less than $5,000? I do love on a farm so I do have access to a lot of the tools Id need

Adrian Mann started getting interested in pianos when he was 12 and ended up building the world's longest grand piano (5.7 metres) between the ages of 16 and 20:

[richard black]

AMAZING! What dedication. Suddenly I want to visit Australia...