Instrumental inspiration

Since I’m responsible for this (and darned proud of it), the least I can do is tell the tale, beginning with this email I received last weekend from Dale Wolaniuk:

"Hello Laurie. We have never met, but I religiously read your column in the Free Press."

Thanks! Somebody give this man a free coffee!

"I am impressed by your caboose and the restoration you are doing to it.

"I was also impressed by your articles about pianos and your friend’s repurposing of one. As a result, I actually acquired an old piano that a neighbour wanted to get rid of but could not sell.

"We went and picked it up… much heavy lifting and pushing to get it onto a truck and then back off into my garage.

"As background, my hobby (for the past 40 years) has been furniture refinishing, restoration and repurposing.

"At first, I wasn’t sure what to transform this into, but finally decided on a bar. By the way, I had/have no desire to keep it for myself. My intent was to save a piano (sort of), create something ‘really neat,’ and sell it.

"It was quite a job taking it all apart and then reconstructing it into the piece of furniture it is today. It turned out extremely well, including a quartz counter top, wine rack and under-counter lighting."

I love it.

"I have it advertised (Kijiji and the regular places), but unfortunately, have not had any offers or inquiries for it yet. I think I priced it too high at the beginning ($1,250), and perhaps it is still high ($800). I will likely drop the price again shortly." He did. By the time we ended our chat, he’d lowered it to $750, and is "open to offers." Wow, great deal.

"All in all, it was a great project and very time consuming. Would I do another one? Depends on if I can move this one! Cheers, Dale."

Oh, this one just has to move Dale, then I can give you one of the five I have in my garage. I have skin in this.

Dale tells me he started taking it apart in June, and that getting the 200-pound or so harp out without cutting the back pillars was the most challenging part, partly because he had to remove all the pins and strings first.

Then he laid it on its back, and slid that "heavy metal" out, which he scrapped.

However, he notes they can serve many a creative purpose — he just didn’t have one this time around. He was, however, happy that his neighbour wanted all the hammers for her arts and crafts projects, so they’ll be put to good use.

He also tells me one of the most challenging tasks was installing the keys. It took pretty much a full day, but he’s happy with the result.

I asked him what the wood is. "Oak," he replied, and agreed with me that this is old-growth gold and how much of a shame it is that so much of it goes to the dump.

There surely must be a business opportunity somehow in dismantling the zillions of free pianos out there, and sorting and stocking the wood for resale to hobbyists or professionals who want some phenomenal wood to build cabinets, shelves, clocks or cover a whole wall at the cabin… whatever! Just stop this stuff from ending up in a landfill!

So if you think there might just be a special place for this in your home or biz (perfect for a mobile serving "trolley" in a restaurant or big hall), just drop Dale a line at dale.wolaniuk@mts.net and he’ll get back to you lickety-split. If it results in me getting a piano out of my garage, I might even help you move it. But only, B.S. (before snow)! Buy, buy!

Comments and column ideas welcome.

lmustard1948@gmail.com