Parts for a piano.

June 29, 2004 9:39 AM

Anyone have any suggestions about where I can find some kind of piano junkyard? I bought a piano at an auction but it's missing some wheels, and to get the correctly-fitting ones from the manufacturer costs almost as much as I paid for the piano itself.
posted by oissubke to grab bag (9 comments total)

Estate sale. Hands down your best bet to find old, probably neglected (yet not physically deteriorated) pianos. Get there early, because antiquers will be there before the doors even open to snatch up anything valuable.

That said... you mean like, rolling wheels? forgive my ignorance, but can't you get your pick from about twelve billion types at your nearest home center?
posted by XQUZYPHYR at 9:45 AM on June 29, 2004

"Rolling wheels" are, of course, called "casters." And yes, Home Depot has many, but their search results don't use URL variables, so you'll have to look for yourself.
posted by ChasFile at 9:53 AM on June 29, 2004

donate it
posted by BentPenguin at 10:32 AM on June 29, 2004

The piano manufacturer uses custom casters, so the Home Depot ones don't quite fit right without some sanding, scraping, drilling, etc., and I'd prefer not to do that if possible. It's a pretty good piano (I got it for a good price) and I want to try to get it back to original condition as much as possible.

BentPenguin, I appreciate the info, but I'd like to actually keep the piano. :-)
posted by oissubke at 10:43 AM on June 29, 2004

Not an answer to your question-- but those adhesive frictionless disc and rail thingies make moving even the heaviest items a total breeze.
posted by trharlan at 10:55 AM on June 29, 2004

Also, try these cats.
posted by trharlan at 10:57 AM on June 29, 2004

No problem. My daughter's school received a piano thru this program. It was in great condition and she's now a maestro!

Seeing as the casters are so unique, you may be forced to modify the piano. Have you tried the usual suspects... eBay or craigslist?
posted by BentPenguin at 11:09 AM on June 29, 2004

Hey, Oi Boy... where are you these days? Are you in Utah? or are you in the UK?

If you're in Utah, I'd suggest contacting BYU, as they have 100s of pianos that all need maintenance... so I'm guessing they probably have a well-stocked maintenance shed.

If you're elsewhere, I'd call music schools or conservatories.
posted by silusGROK at 2:36 PM on June 29, 2004

Unless you're dead set on having the original style of caster...

Instead of trying to match the currently remaining casters, why not remove the remaining ones as well and replace them all with apropriate casters that will fit, and so not have to wory about matching the hardware.

Even if Home Depot doesn't have the size/style you need, there's plenty of places (online and in the real world) that specialize in such things. Knowing how you want the caster to connect to the legs and the size of wheel you want, they chould be able to hook you up.
posted by antimony at 3:12 PM on June 29, 2004