The "Cement" Lauter:  Years ago, in the late 'fifties as an 18-year-old
budding piano teacher, I was teaching at a store that was also a
rebuilding shop.  This was in Bayonne, New Jersey.  My curiosity drew
me to the rebuilding end of this small business.  A piano came in for
restringing and refinishing.  It was a Lauter.

One of the workman accidentally chipped the side of the piano, knocking
off a rather large chunk.  The owner of the business commented,
"Oh, It's another one of the Lauter concrete jobbies".  Fruitwood was
the popular finish of the day.  That meant spraying the piano with
toner and then flicking specks of black with a toothbrush to simulate
worm holes.

My recollection is dim, but the piano was restrung and refinished in
that way and no really big deal was made.  It really didn't look any
different that any other five foot grand; the outer rim thickness looked
conventional.

Bayonne is a hop and a skip from Newark, where the Lauter was made,
so the owner probably had seen a few of them.  I am the happy owner
of a Lauter Humana and really love the piano.  I am particularly fond
of the pouch wind motor. I have rebuilt quite a few and it is still
a mystery to me how they got that green motor cloth to dish properly
and have a completely smooth rim glued to the perimeter of the pouch
cavity.  I use pneumatic cloth and, while the job really doesn't look
factory, the motors work wonderfully.

Anyone have any thoughts on how that was done?  Also the quality of
the Lauter pneumatic cloth must have been superior. I have seen pianos
still working fine with the original cloth that in another brand of
action would have failed years before.

Arthur Marino