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Wow, those hammers were played out. I wonder what they must have sounded like before the piano was taken out of action. Obviously, this piano was a players instrument.

Some fine work here. I hope we get a taste of it after completion.

This may be a silly question, but ... any idea why some of the hammer shanks have bits carved out of them? It doesn't look like wear.

The pinblock was rotating downward and interfering with the shank travel. I guess the shanks were easier to cut away at than the bottom of the block. One is almost cut through.

Bumping to see if there's any more of this solid gold piano porn for Craig to post...

OperaTennor,
Good morninng, and thanks for the nudge. Everything is rather mid-stream at the moment, and if I waited till some aspect was actually finished, it could be a while. So here are a lot of process pictures. work on the block, work on the case parts and work on the action, particularly the shanks. I guess I can't show any work on the playing surface, not that I have any of the banned stuff myself, don't ya know. the action is proving quite interesting. there does't seem to be two parallel lines in the whole geometry, just varying, but complimentary, action ratios i.e. long bass keys with shorter hammershanks and short treble keys with long hammershanks. It all seems to work out pretty evenly between the key tip and the hammershank tip. I've never seen anything like this from the US; the keys may change, but the shanks are the same length

https://plus.google.com/photos/1054...83263057478833009?authkey=CNaH6PHdvtT-Pw

All the best,

Hi Craig,
Thanks for posting the picture link. I have been checking back from time to time to see if there was an update. I have already pestered you a couple of times for that.

Your shop seems to have an inexhaustible abundance of tools, but I am curious, have you had to acquire any special ones for this project?
Also, at this juncture of the project, is it starting to feel a bit like, "labor of love", "still curious george" or "bane of my existence"?

Again, Thanks for keeping us up to date.
Carl

Craig, thank you for the update. What you're doing is fascinating in every respect. I'm amazed at what you did with the hammer shanks, for instance.

Out of curiosity, why are you using hot glue for things like the lyre mount repair, or the hammer shank repairs?

OT,
Thanks for coming back.

Hot hide glue is basicly the only glue we use for wood. It takes more preparation, like warming everything up, and dry clamping everything fist to get ready, but it makes for a strong, rigid bond. It is also easy to clean up. A missed squeezed out will not ruin the surface of a veneer, and can be dealt with using a steamed rag and some patience. Add to that the fact that the joint can be undone should we misalign something makes it a very friendly material to work with. Traditional, too.

We have, however, come to see the value of the super glue. In the case of crazing veneer, where a dozen small cracks are all lifting at the edges, the wicking properies pull the glue in deep. A layer of mylar keeps anything from sticking to the veneer, and we are left with a smooth face. dry clamping is a good idea here, too. Hide glue, no matter how thin or how hot, never solved that problem so nicely.

All the best,

Thanks, Craig.

All that being said, what are your thoughts about PVC glue (e.g., Tite-Bond, etc.)?

For spot repairs on the road, yellow glue is great stuff. Every road kit should have a little bottle. It tacks up fairly quickly, and can be cleaned up with warm water before it sets. so its good for putting back a chip of veneer

I don't do much on the road anymore, and in the shop, I haven't found any use where it beats hide glue. I'm told that the yellow glue bond is slightly flexible, and I get the impression that this is so. For this reason I woud never use it to belly or mount a board. Another drawback is that the stuff has a shelf life and does get old. Hide glue is mixed fresh for every job.

Craig,

Many thanks for the fascinating pictures. Again I have a few questions, I hope you don't mind.

1) In pic 88-95 [Edit: of album 8], you show the details of the pinblock apron made of sheet steel. You milled a recess (rebate/rabbet) into the plate, so that the sheet steel pinblock apron has a smooth bearing surface, and lies flush with the plate. You then drilled and tapped holes into this milled surface (pic 91), to accept the countersunk machine screws that affix the apron. All of that looks like a very neat solution to me. I'm just wondering about the dimensions: that milled recess looks to be about 1/2" to 5/8" wide, and those holes seem to be quite close (1/8" ?) to the edge of the plate. Is there enough "meat" left between the pinblock and the screw threads? Was there a reason not to mill a wider recess, and place the holes further away from the plate edge? I'm thinking that once the string tension is added, there might me a shear force on the screws, towards the plate edge. (Just an amateur asking, though!)
2) What is your experience (or prognosis) regarding the repaired hammer shanks: will the V-joints and scarf joints be directionally stable under humidity fluctuations? And will the hide glue seam stand up to shank burning (if it is required)?

Thanks again for sharing all the wonderful pictures and explanations.

Carl,
sorry, I must have missed your post.

One thing I love about New England is the ready availability of old seriously high quality tools, You never know what will be at a family yard sale. I've even found a couple of tuning kits with old rosewood hale tuning hammers and a conn strobotuner. but,no, we haven't had to get anything special. The shank steamer was new because I wanted to steam the entire shank. In general, to straighten a shank I wrap it in a damp bit of cloth and gently squeeze it with a pair of those old electric shank bending pliers. I find that the steam is more effective than dry heat.

At this point in the process, we are still in a labor of love with a good dose of curiosoty still in effect. We scheduled this project for an extended period so that it wouldnt be a case of creativity on a deadline. there is so much about this piano that is different from anything I've worked on before, that the anticipation only grows as progress is made.

You asked me once about the wires from this piano an whether we would re install them. I extracted all the wires from this piano such that I could reinstall them. I haven't ruled out their re use, but they have just enough actuall corrosion to make me really worry. If they were in very good shape, I would not hesitate to reinstall them. We have a system to chemically clean copper wound bass strings,(secret ingredient: Parson's lemon scent ammonia) and have had great success. We have a big old Baldwin upright that we are going to spruce up and donate to the house that holds all the musician's parties around here. I plan on making a youtube video of the string cleaning from that.

Mark,
thanks for looking and thanks for the questions.

About the plate flange, no, there was no reason that we did not go deeper.
we just thought that that was a good enough bite. To be sure, these rotational forces have both a downward and a pulling aspect. But in examining the piano it was evident that there was also a strong forward thrusting force. The pinblck didn't just twist in the middle, it also smooshed forward. It was our feeling that if we could arrest the downward force at the front edge of the block, keep that from moving, that the pulling (shear) stress would be neutalized by the block pushing forward. The end result would be that the stresses on the flange and screws would be primarily downward. The flange lip is not the only place where the apron will be secured. Screws that went through the plate and into the bottom plank of the block will be replaced with machine screws that will thread into the apron, along with wood screws up into the bottom of the block along the other edge. Perhaps all this attatchement will rigidify the system, perhaps it will give the block better grip to exert the shear force you describe. you do have me pondering, though. but this is what we have been thinking.

The shanks:

The material I used to repair the shanks was 100 year old quartersawn maple from an old pinblock, gorgeous stuff. I cut it to match the quartersawn grain in the shanks I notched, and tried to stay aligned to the grain in the shanks I tipped. So I am hoping that any movement will be minor. I would think they would be fine with heat straightening. It has not been my experience that hide glue softens with heat.

Thanks again for your interest and your questions.

I certainly wouldn't want to interfere with your expertise...

But I was indeed wondering about this issue: rigidify vs. grip-and-shear. I was thinking that if the front part of the pinblock (i.e. plate flange side) was free to "slide" (minimally) on the the apron, then it would exert only a downward pull on the machine screws, but if it was solidly affixed to the apron, close to the plate flange, it might exert a shear force on those screws as well. This is conjecture, I'll gladly be corrected (or told to shut up and watch the pro's work ).

I'll be very interested to see your final arrangement.

Looking forward to seeing that when you are done.

My 1908 Bluthner has the original strings. They are in pretty good shape, but wondered if they could be cleaned up. After following this thread, I'm thinking I should just have Walter Piano Transport deliver the piano to you for restoration.

Hi Craig. Has there been more progress? Perhaps another folder?

+1. An update would be welcome.

Hello, all,

I let things go too far, and created an editing nigtmare for myself. So I've broken things up into subjects. I'll start with the pinblock, and when I get them ready, post folders about the case reconstruction, the veneering, and the plate and hardware.

Here is the pinblock.

https://plus.google.com/photos/105412259108667869462/albums/6073856117252772961

Be well,
Craig

In the end, all that matters with a pinblock is that it holds the pins in place and keeps them from turning when you do not want them to turn. If you compare all the work that is necessary to make this pinblock with that required for a modern piano, even a Blüthner, you can see that hours of work have been eliminated without compromising the way that the piano works. Such is the advancement of the art of piano manufacture.