The question was asked, "Where does one draw the line on restoring
an item if the labor cost to repair and rebuild exceeds the value?"
In my opinion there is no line.

Restoration costs and market value are issues totally independent
of one another.  Restoration costs are dictated by the time, materials
and skills needed to do a thorough job.  Market value is dictated
by supply and demand.  There is no correlation between the two.
I thought that Brian Thornton outlined the case very well.

We are not building instruments from new here on some super-efficient
production line.  None of us (as far as I know!) has a workshop the
size of Aeolian Hall.  So there are no benefits of scale to be had to
reduce costs.

Many, if not most, restorations are one-offs, requiring a host of
different skills.  Every instrument brings its own problems and demands
upon the restorer.  And it is easy to overlook the fact that much of
the work (unlike the original builders) is devoted to taking the
monsters apart, cleaning them, stripping off old materials, and
preparing components for subsequent rebuild.  I would suggest that
this part can easily take up 50% of the time.

I believe that it is more appropriate to class us as artisans, who are
inspired by the mechanical marvels of the past, and who are motivated
to keep these marvels in working order for the benefit of future
generations.  I suspect that most of us would prefer not to know what
our hourly rate works out at!

The first thing that I tell potential customers is that the value upon
completion will be almost certainly be less than the costs incurred in
restoring an instrument.  Sometimes that loses me a job, but not often.

In my own line -- player pianos -- potential buyers do not want
non-working pianolas.  There is no demand.  And there is not exactly a
massive demand for ones that do work.  Restoring for stock is not
guaranteed to find an early buyer, unless it is a superior instrument
such as a reproducer or it has unusual features.

Sometimes, opportunities occur to display ones wares and generate
sales.  I am appearing at Birmingham's Symphony Hall on October 11th as
part of a "Welcome to the Piano Day."  It should be a lively event with
all sorts of novelty entertainment, and I might sell a modest Aeolian
that I have just finished.  But I am not holding my breath!

So restoring by commission is much more profitable, and, as Brian
observes, clients who want an instrument working again for their own
pleasure do not consider the subsequent value.  Those are the best
customers.

What was that Oscar Wilde quote?  A cynic is someone who knows the
price of everything and the value of nothing.  Seems appropriate here,
too.

Roger Waring - The Pianola Workshop
Solihull, United Kingdom
www.pianola.co.uk