On 29/01/2021 04:46, Nick Odell wrote:
On Thu, 28 Jan 2021 23:21:39 +0000, wrote:

On 28/01/2021 18:46, Graham Harrison wrote:
On Thu, 28 Jan 2021 16:29:44 +0000, wrote:

Hmmm, a badly structured question. Hopefully it makes more sense now.

On 28/01/2021 12:12, wrote:
A bit of a long-shot but ... is there anyone out there who has restored,
is restoring, or has worked on a 19th century square piano?

No, but a couple of thoughts:

1) Try contacting local piano tuners; they might know someone. After
all they might have been asked to tune one.
2) If you have a musical museum (even if it's not piano specific)
nearby they might have restored a square piano and be able to offer
advice or point you at someone.
3) I've come across square/straight strung pianos in National Trust
(and other) properties and they have all sorts of experts on call.
4) This is a bit more of a long shot but I wonder if one of the music
colleges (Guildhall, Royal Academy, Royal College in London for
instance) might be able to help?

Thanks, but I'm restoring one myself and wondered if there was anyone
else here to (ahem) exchange notes with. I'm aware of several
professional restorers but that's not what I'm looking for.

There are some useful hints to be picked up from the Lucy Coad video
at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-BBflq39D-o and there's a link to
her company https://www.squarepiano.co.uk/

There were lots of other places I was planning to refer you to but I
haven't been paying enough attention because over the past twenty
years or so, all of them seem to have gone.

Museums don't seem to be as approachable as they used to be but I'm
sure there are relationships to be nurtured and there is so much
expertise there that it is really worth trying. I think some years ago
I mentioned here how brilliant the people at the V&A had been to me in
the 1960s and how they had encouraged me to launch myself into a 50+
year career. And reading. My 1948 Groves' has about sixteen pages on
the pianoforte and wanders in and out of discussion about the square
piano through that + diagrams of actions. Reading whatever you can,
where you can will build a useful composite.

There are plenty of people here who can contribute information on
classic wood and metal work and finishing in traditional materials so
if you have questions, ask away. Even if you don't have any questions
it would be terrific if you pop in from time to time and tell us how
things are getting along.

All the best,

Nick

Thanks for your interest, Nick. This is very much a "when the mood hits"
project (as is finishing the Hurdy Gurdy and the restoration and
duplication of an 18thC English "Guittar"). It needs to take second
place to (in no particular order) renovating many Crittall windows and
frames, making a parquetry oak floor for the lobby, extending the
workshop, rewiring (mostly done), plumbing a new cloakroom, and making
new cupboards for the kitchen, utility and larder. There's more but
that's enough to suggest that the SquareP won't be a quick project ;-)