Repairing the bottom board of an upright piano

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The bottom board of the piano was completely split rendering pedals unusable:

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This board split along a glue joint.  (the board was joined from three boards at the factory some hundred years ago)  The board probably would have survived, except:  sometime in its history, the muffler rail for the center pedal was removed.   The center pedal then would flop to the floor.   Some enterprising soul screwed the back of the pedal to the board.  Then a healthy force on the pedal caused the board to split.  Oops.

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The board was re-glued  along the broken joint.  The glue joint was reinforced with biscuit joinery.   (Here's an article on biscuit joinery: https://www.familyhandyman.com/woodworking/wood-joints/building-cabinets-with-biscuit-joints/ )

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The board was sanded and sealed with shellac

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Pedals were polished, and trap work was refurbished and reinstalled

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To avoid the problem of the drooping middle pedal, I installed a spring so that it would operate (without breaking the board),  But the middle pedal is a do nothing pedal!

Note:  the screws in the two outside pedals hold them down to simplify the installation of the bottom board in the piano.   They will be removed after the board is installed.

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