Piano/part 2

I think that Marlow is really enjoying working on this piano. I have never seen a piano so torn apart. It is really fun to see that you can take the keys off. Each key is numbered so you know where they go. I'll download some pictures later. Marlow has been using a finish restorer on the wood, and it is very pretty. After the restorer, he rubs tongue oil on the wood, and it really brings out the natural grain of the wood. There is a number on the harp part of the piano, and we did a little research on that number. The piano was made between 1900 and 1910. I was really surprised that it was that old. Because of it's height it is considered an upright. I thought it was rather short, and thought it was a spinet (sp).

Jennifer and Kyle came over last night. She is so excited. She was helping Marlow clean the keys. He wipes each one down individually with Murphy's oil soap. It is a rather tedious task. Did I tell you I'm going to be a tacky mother-in-law and give it to her for Christmas. I told her she can have it as soon as we get it restored/cleaned up. At the current rate, it shouldn't take too long.

Student Launch Initiative workshop

I was part of a workshop for new schools that want to compete in the Student Launch Initiative contest sponsored by NASA. The students have to build a rocket that will go one mile up and carry a payload that does something. The something is their choice. You can see some of our previous projects at http://www.sli.uah.edu/. The workshop help new teams see how it is done and the get their level one certification.

The group form Iowa state made a film of the launches. It is a little long (he was not big on editing out dead space or he liked everything)but shows about 15 launches (20mins. total time). The first rocket was a big one to show the student what their finished products might look like. It also showed what would happen if the main chute came out too soon. It came out at about 4000 ft. and the rocket drifted nearly a mile. They found it later that day. About 11 mins. in is a fast section to the hamster dance song. Kind of entertainment. At the end of this section at about 13 mins. is a drag race between two rockets.


USLI Rocket Workshop Rocket Launch 2008 from Rick Hanton on Vimeo.

Awesome Find

While out for my walk Saturday afternoon, I found a piano that someone had put out on the curb. I made Marlow go up and ask the people if we could take it, and they said "sure". We went straight home and got the truck, and Mark and headed back. There was a pick up by the piano, and I thought oh man, we lost out. I then noticed that the truck was full, and only one person!

It was no easy task getting it in the truck, but we did it. Kyle's wife Jennifer had mentioned recently that she wished she had a piano. She has a keyboard, but it just isn't the same as a piano. The piano looks to be in good shape for a freebie. All the keys have the ivorys, and there is only one string that is broken. Marlow found a great web site that he thinks will be helpful in fixing it up.

I told Jennifer at church what we had found, and I thought she was going to jump for joy. We bribed all the kids to lunch so we had a lot of people to help get it off the truck. Marlow tore it apart this morning, I have never seen a piano dismantled like this, it is really neat. He has started cleaning it up, and it already is coming back to life. Did I mention that it is a Baldwin?