Showing posts with label Luthier. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Luthier. Show all posts

Friday, October 26, 2012

Recycled Instruments - Repurposing a broken piano

Update on the piano deconstruction. A friend who empties abandoned homes has given us three pianos (so far). They were on their way to the dump.

Francois asked about the first one, saying he'd like to take it to use its parts. Our neighbor was more than happy for him to take it!

Two of the pianos were beyond repair. The third we're still evaluating though it's in pretty bad shape.

We've harvested the wood from the first two destroyed pianos.

It's already been used for shelves and it's slated for other purposes.


There isn't a manual on deconstructing an old, dilapidated piano.

At the time we were tearing these apart, Francois had a master plan for the harps of the pianos and he set it into action right away.

First their insides had to be exposed. Which saw, which chisels and mallets would be best to cut through and remove what was left of the wooden soundboard?

Dr. Frankenstein was in the house!


As a long-time woodworker and furniture maker as well as being a luthier (guitar maker) -- now working with apprentices on ukuleles, he's not at a loss for tools.

I don't remember how many different types of saws were used!

We haven't received a piano yet that's had real ivory keys on the keyboard.

I make jewelry and Francois would like to use them for inlay on his instruments, they wouldn't go to waste.

Regardless, when you recycle instruments, there are many parts you can find to use for jewelry, artwork and other creative endeavors. Don't ever pass up something that may be repurposed.


On a side note, a while back we were able to donate some instruments we hadn't played in a while to a high school music teacher.

There are so many cuts to funding to arts programs in schools. If you have anything gathering dust in a closet or attic, think about how someone else may be able to use something that you have.

Every neighbor within a ten mile radius must've heard the GONG! sound as we hit the metal harp in attempts to remove the last pieces of wood.

Francois had been using salvaged wood already in his instruments and furniture pieces, so this was something he was used to doing.


He likes the challenge of taking someone's unusually shaped scrap pieces and forming them into one of his skinny leg tables, for instance.

His repurposed furniture, including parts of a once sad old piano, will probably have really good karma. :-)

The hammers are stained and, like the keys themselves, some were broken off completely.

The harps from the pianos have been used in our garden, per his master plan. You'll need a pal to help in moving the heavy metal harp into place.

One of the harps is for peas to climb. The other (from the player piano) is covered with climbing tomato vines.The player piano's harp is more square shaped and even this late in the season it's still virtually covered by vines.


For the first episode of the piano deconstruction, see Taking apart a piano: Harvesting the Harp, an earlier post.




Don't Fret I'm a Trained Luthier Apron 
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Upcoming: Photos & Post about the Ukulele Adventure. The making of a ukulele. A bunch of folks, a bunch of ukes in production. There's talk of a new Ukulele Orchestra in the end. Will it happen? We'll see.....


Piano Harp in the Garden










Thursday, February 18, 2010

Fashion Eyeglasses: I see what you're saying

One thing I really liked about the personal style of Leanne Marshall, the winner of season five of the show Project Runway, was her glasses.

It wasn't just that she wore a cool pair of glasses, but that she wore glasses at all! The photo I found first, on Bravo and Amazon, shows her without the glasses.

We're inundated with makeover shows, make-under shows and almost inevitably if the subject is wearing glasses they'll come out the other end in contact lenses or having had some sort of corrective eye surgery.

The glasses have go to go. It's usually an unsaid 'fact of life.' To be deemed as hip, younger-looking, trendy, acceptable I guess, toss the specs? They're finally letting some grey hair pass through. And bald can be beautiful. Hail baby boomers for that.

If something as innocuous as wearing glasses is not tolerated, imagine that for some reason you stand out even more. What if you are overweight? You have a disability? Something they can't just toss away to make you appear to be more a part of normal society?

I found an article online called You think those glasses are ‘ironic’? How short-sighted. Some folks are wearing glasses now just for fashion. They use clear glass lenses.

Big sunglasses are back in style. When I was in high school, big glasses were a fad, partly thanks to Elton John. For a while you might see some huge, novelty glasses on the street. When I go to get new frames, I'm happy to see (way out of my price range) some designers are creating eyeglass frames.

It's interesting to watch awards shows. You see some celebrities nervously whip out a pair of glasses to read a cue card and then quickly hide them away again.


KarolinFelix on Etsy had a cute brooch called Pink Glasses.



How many celebrities can you think of who wear glasses? John Lennon was the first one who came to mind for me. TV characters?

There was a famous episode of The Brady Bunch devoted to Jan Brady's struggles getting used to wearing glasses.

But the recycling and upcycling movement has brought a new style into eyeglasses. People are now wearing one of a kind glasses, having them made from frames found in antique shops for instance. The frames have to be in good enough shape for use and I've heard that warranties on upcycled glasses may be different if you BYOF, bring your own frames?

Do you wear glasses? Do you have a choice? Have you been able to choose some frames that are fashionable, cool, stylish?

What's you opinion of the wearing of glasses by people who don't need them?



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Saturday, July 4, 2009

Guitar in clamps, Blue and Tan

After two have recently sold,
Francois is working on a few different guitars at once.


[Snakewood wedge above]


The newest completed guitar
about to make its debut is
an Orchestra Model, O-6-14
Walnut Body
Bearclaw sitka spruce
Cocobolo bindings

Cherry neck

Ebony fingerboard and bridge

Rosette is amboyna burl and cocobolo
Includes various colored linings

Don't fret, information and photos coming soon.



Tuesday, May 19, 2009

OM 12-String Guitar underway

Peek-a-boo. Francois is finishing up his current commission for an Orchestra model 12-string guitar. More photos to come. The back and sides are cocobolo, the top is sitka spruce. Bridge and fingerboard are ebony.

When we get more information about the Indie film which features another one of his guitars, you'll read about it here, too.

Friday, April 3, 2009

They're gonna put us in the movies :)

Last night we got word that one of Fran's guitars is going to be a movie star!

A friend is appearing in an indie film and his character plays guitar. Of course they needed something nice and one of Fran's MDD guitars was in the running. Apparently there's a chance that the film will be shown at the Sundance Film Festival. How cool that one of his guitars will be on screen.

We're getting ready to put a couple of them in an Etsy shop, and we're working on getting our own web site going as well.