Too costly?  Not really!  If I believed everything I have read, then
working in any capacity on old upright pianos is not cost effective.
However, I continue to restring, put in sound boards, rebuild piano
actions, and anything else it takes to make a one-hundred-year-old
piano perform like new.

It really doesn't actually cost that much money for parts.  Time is
only real cost, and that depends on your experience.  I now re-leather
the hammer butts and re-bush them.  The cost to do an entire upright
action is less than five hundred dollars using Abel hammers.  The new
synthetic buckskin works really well.

It's actually a very stress-free activity -- and relaxing!

Don Teach - now retired from a very stressful job.
Shreveport, Louisiana