January 17, 2001
Noteworthy transformation
Kaufmann turns old pianos into new functional furniture
By LISA PERKINS
Staff writer
Everything old is new again, or so the tune goes. That seems to be the philosophy of musician turned furniture maker Tom Kaufmann.
Kaufmann of Traverse City is in the business of turning old, unwanted upright pianos into functional pieces of furniture. His unusual venture started about six years ago when he was looking for a desk to store his keyboard equipment. Not wanting a typical, pressed board, generic desk, Kaufmann came up with the idea of converting a discarded piano into something that would be both useful and eye appealing.
Transforming the piano turned out to be more of a job than he had anticipated but Kaufmann was so pleased with the results that he soon turned his resourcefulness into a creative hobby and part-time business, The Upright Furniture Company.
"Dismantling an upright piano is kind of like an archeological dig, you find all kinds of treasures inside those old cabinets, and you develop a real appreciation for the workmanship of those times. You also find a lot of garbage, mouse droppings, and very old dust, you get really dirty," Kaufmann said.
Kaufmann has also learned some tricks to make the disassembly and reconstruction less of a daunting task and has enlisted the help of renowned cabinet maker Brian Feldkamp of Lansing to do the finishing work. It still, however, takes more than 100 hours to go from landfill candidate to finished product.
"There is no end to the number of upright pianos that are out there, I get calls all the time from people who are trying to get rid of one," Kaufmann said.
Usually, Kaufmann finds that the piano is no longer viable as a musical instrument, but the cabinet is often made of precious wood detailed by skilled craftsmen of another era. "Most times these great pieces end up in a land fill because no one knows what to do with them."
One such piano came from Traverse City's Opera House. Kaufmann was called to rescue an instrument that had been walled in, literally, and the only way it could be removed was to be disassembled. Though covered with dust and a thick coat of paint, the potential for a handsome piece of furniture was there. The desk that Kaufmann created is now in the home of a local resident.
Kaufmann has found that he has to be selective about the pieces he claims because of the sheer number that are offered to him. He currently has 20 to 25 "shells" is storage, waiting to be made into a computer workstation, entertainment center or whatever Kaufmann's latest idea might be.
"I'm thinking of putting together a 'how-to' video for people who would like to be able to do this themselves, maybe to be able to save a family piano," he noted.
Along with furniture making, Kaufmann is the owner of Tinkertunes Music Studios, a music teaching facility which provides lessons in piano and violin to preschoolers. He has also visited a number of local elementary schools with his "traveling musical instrument petting zoo."
For more information about Kaufmann, the Upright Furniture Company or Tinkertunes, visit his website www.tinkertunes.com or call 935-4429.