Termites deep in the Stieff...

When I first removed Yuri's action last Tuesday the unmistakable crunch of paper-thin wood under my fingers indicating termite damage made my stomach plummet. There was no doubt the little critters had been happily munching away; the only question was how extensive was their foraging?

After Yuri arrived at the cottage, I gave him a thorough examination. The good news was the termite activity was limited to the keyframe. The bad news is that the keyframe is the foundation for practically everything that makes a piano work. The tolerances for the key and balance rail pins are perhaps at most 1/32 of an inch and the frame itself slides into the piano's keybed with perhaps an eight of an inch to spare. It may look like a hunk of wood; but it is precision craftmanship.

Knowing that I have my plate full just learning action repair and regulating skills, I called a friend Frank Antonowich who is a master cabinet maker. The thought was that he could perhaps build a new frame to replace the old. We set an appointment for today at 3 PM for him to give me his assessment.

Again, bad news and good news. Building a new frame to the tolerances required would require getting cured hardwood that's nearly impossible to find, not to mention hours and hours of labor. Read major $$$. He's a friend; but he does this for a living, not just out of the goodness of his heart. On the other hand, he suggested that the damaged frame could be reformed out of the same type of epoxy used to repair boats and he's willing to teach me how to do it! The frame would conform to the original tolerances and the epoxy would replace the termite-damaged wood with a material even stronger than the wood. It'll be a labor of love; but that's what this adventure is all about -- learning new skills.

We set our next appointment for next Thursday at 5 PM. My homework assignment is to remove all the action and keys from the frame then dig out all the damaged wood. So for the remainder of this afternoon and early evening, I busied myself with digging out termite droppings to reveal what's left of the frame.

As I dug I was amazed first at how extensive the damage was. Some portions of the frame had only a quarter inch of good wood left. On the other hand --again, good news--the termites had given wide berth to the wood around every pin in the frame. Each is in solid wood, which means Frank's solution will work!

I'm stoked. It'll take hours; but it looks as if Yuri's first major problem is one that can be solved. Stay tuned for the Thursday update.