There are many reasons for hiring a professional piano moving company to move one’s piano. Here is a small note why: Pianos would not exist without quality control in all aspects of production because the instruments are too sensitive and dependent on the interaction of many parts and materials. For example, quality begins with the scale engineer’s design. Metallurgists check the metal content of the iron plate; chemical analyses are made of the other contents, including carbon, sulfur, phosphorus, and manganese. Temperature is also critical; the molten iron is 2,750°F (1,510°C), and founding or hardening temperatures are also carefully monitored. The string is similarly controlled and tested during manufacture for elasticity, resiliency, and tensile strength.
Point is these instruments are intensely manufactured and are easily set out of balance from the form they were prescriber for on the day they are constructed. So, if moved to relocate them or just being moved around a house for construction purposes or for whatever reason, it is so strongly recommended that one seek the hands of the professionals. Now I don’t mean professional movers, for they have their calling and are excellent at it, I mean a professional piano mover. There is a big difference, piano movers move piano’s the way pianos are supposed to be moved, with all their delicate pieces and materials that make up a piano in mind at all times.
Here is some more information on why this beautiful instrument needs TLC:
Making the structural components
The wood components of the piano (collectively called the framework)—the pinblock and the cast iron plate—are the parts of the piano that support the tension of the strings. Braces are made of select spruce, and the pinblock or wrestplank is constructed of bonded layers of rock maple. The pinblock is quarter-sawn or rotary cut to maximize the grain structure’s grip on the tuning pins. The laminated layers are also glued at different angles to each other so that the pins are surrounded with end grain wood. The pinblock has one hole per string, or up to 240 holes, drilled in it.
The cast iron plate is made in a piano plate foundry. Match-plates are made of metal from the wood pattern designed by the engineer with top and bottom pieces to match. Sand molds are made from the match-plates, and these are used to cast the plate. Molten iron is poured through the molds and allowed to harden during the founding process (a controlled cooling process) to produce a plate weighing about 600 lb. (272.4 kg). After the plate is cooled and removed from the molds, sand is blasted off the plate with steel grit. The plate is transported on overhead conveyors to a drill room where holes are drilled for the tuning pins, nosebolts, bolts to the frame, and hitch pins. The hitch pins are inserted next; then the casting imperfections are removed from the plate by grinding and drilling. Oils are also removed. The plate is hand-sanded and rubbed, primed, and painted.
The cast iron plate is suspended above its piano during the process of fitting. The plate will be lowered and raised in and out of the piano several times as the pinblock, seal against the rim, and the sound-board and bridges are fitted.
I could go on and on with the detailed information on the delicate and intricate process and its materials to construct a piano, but I think you get the picture. If you care to see horror stories of people who try to do a DIY move with a piano there on the internet help yourself and see. Do yourself your piano and your heart good and justice and hire a professional piano mover to move your piano.