In regards to moving spinets, yes, the biggest thing to worry about is
breaking off the legs. I can't tell you how many times, when I worked
in a piano shop, we had people call to say, "I broke a leg off my spinet
when I pulled it out to vacuum."
First off, the little casters on a spinet are _not_ for moving it around.
Secondly, anyone who regularly vacuums behind their piano is too much of
a neat freak for me.
Never, _ever_ move a piano, especially a spinet, without a dolly, and
at least two people. Pianos are difficult enough to move if you know
what you're doing, even more so if you don't ... and costly to repair
when things go wrong.
Something I've always suspected might make tipping a piano onto its side
easier and safer is two pieces of wood nailed together at right angles,
with the "corner" rounded off, which would be put on the edge being
tipped, serving as a pivot point and (1) helping to protect the corner
and (2) giving a bit of distance so that spindly spinet legs might not
break as easily. I've never used one of these, nor do I know anyone
who has, but it strikes me as a good idea.
Finally, both people who responded to the spinet moving query today
mentioned "goodies" inside the piano. Probably the most interesting
thing I found in a piano is ... a giraffe -- a small, wooden giraffe
that is sitting on my piano right now!
Bryan Cather
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