Restoration of a Knabe Victorian Grand and its transformation to a Pianomation player
piano for Don Hollingshead
166) 
167) 
167a) 
168) 
168a) 
166) While working on the naturals, I stored the sharps on the keyframe. The
photo of this allows you to see all the new underfelt installed on the keyframe and the
polishing of the key pins. The pear color of the front punchings identify them
unmistakably as Renner parts.
167) Here, I am making a guide strip off of the old damper underlever rail.
This strip will guide me in duplicating the rail with the new parts.
167a) This photo shows the new damper lift rail after the new felt had been glued to
it. I set hardwood over that felt and clamped it down as shown for a number of
weeks, if not months, to let the felt pre-compress in order to stabilize its function when
placed into the piano.
168) The compressed felt is now exposed as is the portion of the blank rail which
was cut away, covered in felt and then had leather which was lubricated stretched over the
felt. There is a spring that goes in this location which isn't visible in photo
#167. This photo also shows the rail marked out for drilling.
168a) Sorry for making this section so elongated but a number of photos slipped by
me while I was setting this up and I didn't want to leave them out. This photo shows
the new damper underlevers. To the right is the raw underlever as it came from the
factory. These are both weighted with lead and spring loaded to minimize bleed on
notes during staccato play. I have much experience with these "paint
grade" lubrication methods and have always found individual parts to seem quiet but
entire sets squeak and rattle and so forth. Therefore, I scraped away the original
lubrication and, instead, glued in a piece of soft felt which has been impregnated with
Teflon powder. This will operate as well as the original part but with silence
unlike the original design. I make this same adjustment with upright hammer butts
which the manufacturers seem compelled to treat in the same manner.
169) 
170) 
171) 
169) The completed rail has been drilled out and screwed together with all the
underlevers in place.
170) This photo shows the levers down with their springs attached. The maker
suggests that we drill the holes for these and then place the spring in the hole with a
piece of wood to take up the slop since no drill bit is fine enough. I beg to
differ, I made a drill bit for the press from a thin piece of #13 piano wire with the end
sharpened. By so doing, the springs pressed into the wood perfectly with no need for
sloppy shim wood being added.
171) Now I turn my attention to the action stack. One of the action brackets
on this stack was broken. I chose to buy all new brackets for it but found that no
replacements were anywhere close to the right size to accommodate this piano.
Therefore, I put the unbroken brackets to the test. I stood on a chair and held each
bracket against the ceiling. Then I let it drop to the floor. I repeated this
action five times for each bracket. None of them broke. So I felt confident
that I could reuse them. I simply made a hardwood duplicate of them with cross-grain
construction to prevent the shifting of the action regulation during the change in
seasons. This proved a better solution than trying to use the purchased brackets
which were virtually useless.
172) 
173) 
174) 
172) This is the let off rail removed from the stack and with new felt buttons glued
to all the parts. Each threaded wire also had to be freed from the wood and made
usable again. They were rusted into place and frozen solid. With some heat and
a little rust dissolver I was able to make most of the useful again. The ones which
refused to be made reliable, I replaced.
173) The hammer's shanks and flanges are kept from moving by screwing them down onto
course sand paper. The original paper was, of course shot and spoiled because it was
covered with many "traveling" shims which were not relevant to the new parts.
I used to use a white paper here which was more in keeping with the original but
all dealers I can find have stopped selling the 3M Silica Carbide Tri-M-ite paper that I
favor at this grit level (which is 100.) So this rail is covered in garnet paper of
100 grit which will work just fine even if it isn't my ideal for cosmetic results.
174) This photo shows that rail attached back onto the action stack. As you
can see, all the original brackets have been cleaned up and refinished and the new bracket
constructed and placed on the stack.
175) 
176) 
177) 
175) Here, the new Renner whippens have been installed and
traveled. Shims are placed between the flange and the rail on one side or the other
in order to even out the spacing of the whippens and to help them align with the other
parts they must interact with. The whippens must align with the shank knuckles, the
let off buttons and the key capstans while not bumping into each other and maintaining an
attractive evenly spaced general look.
176) Here, the new Renner shanks and flanges have been installed and traveled to
ensure that they all swing in a parallel motion to all their neighbors. All these
parts must throw the hammers at the strings in the more direct manner possible and exactly
the same from one note to the next. This ensures maximum sound production as well as
evenness of tone.
177) This is the underside of the action stack. The whippens are getting a
saturation of powdered Teflon into their bottom felts.
178) 
179) 
180) 
178) The new hammers have arrived and are being prepared for
installation.
179) The freshly installed hammers. When gluing hammers to new shanks and
flanges there is always a little shank which protrudes out the back of the hammer after
gluing. Some techs will saw this off by hand with the part still screwed to the
piano. I feel this unnecessarily stresses the flanges. Therefore, I take each
part off and trim it away with a fine toothed scroll saw.
180) This piano did not come with a bench. As part of a deal with the owner, I
am making one from some of the left over Rosewood boards and veneers which could not be
saved from the original piano. Although the lid was lost, there was a section in its
center big enough to make a piano bench lid. The legs I acquired from a supplier of
all manner of antique hardware, gingerbread and other reproduction of antiquity.
These were, in fact, the only legs I could find in American which properly matched the
legs of the piano.
181) 
182) 
183) 
181) The finished bench from the outside. I had an
antique orphaned piano hinge I cut down and polished to place on this bench. It is
traditional to use two or three butt flanges on these types of lids but I have universally
found that these hinges have failed by the time the piano is due for another restoration.
This piano hinge will never wear out unless someone drops it off a roof.
182) The inside of the lid. I would have liked to use one of my metal piano
bench lid supports but I was unable to find one which would synchronize properly with the
dimensions of this lid. Therefore, I made the lid support out of leather. The
bottom and all joints are of greater structural integrity than is normally used in the
making of new piano benches. If I may take a moment to brag, I feel the bench came
out very nicely and will serve admirably to store Pianocorder CDs.
183) These are the rough openings for the Pianocorder solenoids cut in the keybed
before dressing.
184) 
185) 
186) 
184) Here, the Pianocorder solenoid rail is being adjusted
to fit the scale of this piano.
185) The plate screws have been cleaned up and relacqued in gold to match the plate.
As you can see from the mix of photos, that I often work more than one task at a
time while I'm rebuilding a piano.
186) The new sound board, bridges and pin block have also been given their original
nose bolts with the top fixators polished to a high gloss. It is ready to receive
the plate. This is an example of why I like letting my rebuild projects remain here
in my shop for a period of years whenever possible. It gives the sound board a
chance to cycle through some seasons so I can see if it will crack or develop aberrant
compression ridges. The standard design for the piano over the last 100+ years has
been to set a specific crown to the board and then to place a specific amount of
downbearing load onto the board with the strings. I will soon begin working with a
new way of building piano bridges which will reduce the need for so much down bearing.
I hope this new design will improve sustain, volume, tuning stability, longevity
and rebuilding practicality. However, even with my new plans, the finished piano you
will see later was developed of a great sound and a perfect sustain and decay curve.
That along with the lack of false beats which are usually a headache to track down
in each rebuild using the older techniques, made this piano a joy to tune and a pleasure
to listen to. With the highly diaphramized board and quality of techniques used
across the entire rebuild, I'm convinced this piano ended up sounding much better than it
ever did when it left Knabe's factory in the first place.
187) 
188) 
189) 
187) As seen earlier, the frame of this piano had a
"dead bar" at the corner of the sound board. This bar's function is to
reduce the needed length of the ribs thus adding longevity, tuning stability and high
frequency amplification. I took the time to create a grooved diaphragm even in this
area of the board and then I placed a reinforcing strip glued and screwed to the board on
the opposite side of the diaphragm so as to reinforce the glue joint and ensure sound
reflection back into the board during play. This photo also highlights the beauty of
the Rosewood on the inner rim of the piano. This is the wood which the owner
requested be made as blonde as possible to contrast the darker Rosewood elsewhere as is
the popular custom these days.
188) Here begins the job of placing the plate into the piano and getting the height
perfected using the nose bolts. Once a position for the plate is finalized, it will
be removed again and hard maple stand offs will be installed with acoustic glue. The
plate will then be dropped in and screwed down and fixed to the nose bolts to push these
stand offs into their exactly correct positions. Once the glue dries, the screws
will be given a final aggressive tightening.
189) Once the plate nears the piano, a safety blanket is placed over the piano to
aid in preventing damage to the finish.
190) 
191) 
192) 
190) All quality pianos traditionally have a hardwood strip
glued and screwed to this area of the sound board. The glue joint under the piano in
this area is very thin in comparison to the rest of the "rastin" and, therefore,
suggests reinforcement to ensure good sound reflection as well as a safety to prevent the
joint from coming apart.
191) Another place that I have already mentioned where I used this reinforcing strip
technique to improve the stability of a glue joint and improve sound reflection.
Namely, on the dead bar. This also shows the quarter round softwood strip
which is traditionally glued to the long straight edge of the sound board. This
strip is primarily cosmetic, blocking a view of any imperfections in the finish of the
rim, glue squeeze out or staining, and any minor aberrations in the joint between the
sound board edge and the rim of the piano. It does not really have any acoustic
properties.
192) Gluing in dowel rods of hard maple to reinforce the joint between the pin block
and the stretcher board. Most middle to upper grade pianos do not have their pin
blocks fitted to the case as tightly as this one. I've seen newer Knabes which did
not have this nicety. However, the vintage of this piano is just old enough that
they had not started cutting corners yet and so I was installing a full fit pin block.
Even on pianos which don't have blocks like this to start with, I always try to
replace them with blocks of this nature since it helps to make the forward terminations of
the strings that much more solid; improving sustain and volume as well as stabilizing
tuning better. When these pianos are new, the blocks are installed during the laying
up of the inner rim, sound board and belly rail. Therefore, they can drill right
through the stretcher into the pin block to reinforce it. They veneer the case after
this. I don't have that option so the doweling is done in this manner instead.
193) 
194) 
195) 
193) Another photo of the doweling of the pin block.
There are also dowels installed at the ends where the block is glued to shelves
created by the inner rim of the piano. We normally think of the outer rim of a piano
as "the rim" of a piano. In fact, a thick inner rim which is much lower is
made first and the under-struts, sound board, bridges, pin block, belly rail and sometimes
the keybed are attached to it first. Later, the outer rim is bent on a different
frame blank and glued to the inner rim. It is this outer rim which carries the
veneer, cabinet parts, raises the sides to levels making a lid cover possible, and the
stretcher itself.
194) Screwing the plate down. Since the wood I use for the pin block is so
hard and dense, it is often necessary to coat the screw threads with a little soap to get
them fully into place and tightened. I use soap because it won't migrate into the
tuning pin holes causing tuning problems.
195) This is a feature many of the top piano builders (like Steinway) leave out.
(In my opinion, much to their shame.) These are hardwood bushings that drive
into the tuning pin holes in the plate. They allow the tuning pins to bind the plate
and pin block together as a more cohesive whole and leave the tuning pins stiffer and more
controllable during tuning.
196) 
197) 
198) 
196) After the bushings are driven into the plate, a special
drill bit for pin block use is used to align the holes in the bushings with those of the
pin block. Without this step, it would be likely that the tuning pins would do some
damage to the pin block holes while being driven into place.
197) Felting the plate in preparation for stringing. Some areas need heavy
felt to fill gaps and quiet segments of the strings which do not improve the tone if they
vibrate sympathetically. Other areas, I leave open so they can vibrate
sympathetically. After I've had a chance to tune and listen to the piano, I decide
whether these segments are improving or hurting the tone. If they prove to be
hurting the tone, they are silenced by wearing stringing braid into them. As it
turned out on this piano, they did no harm and may have helped so they were left to
vibrate on their own. Pianos of this vintage are usually known for having no rear
string segments which are allowed to vibrate (called a duplex scale.) However, the
construction of some instruments allow us to produce at least the equivalent of a basic
duplex as this piano did.
198) Stringing the piano. Pads are used to keep from damaging the finish
during this process.
199) 
200) 
201) 
199) Making a pattern of the bass string and tenor areas for
the string winder to use in producing the bass. In years past, it was common
practice to send in the old strings so the maker could duplicate the originals.
However, modern computer technology has enabled the better winders to develop
scales that are far better than the originals. Most original scales were come upon
by research and development and a great deal of guess work. No more guessing these
days. We can almost predict what the strings are going to sound like before we ever
put them on the piano these days.
200) While waiting for the bass strings to come back to me, I work on rubbing out
the last of the cabinet.
201) The fall board which was shattered when it came to me has now received its new
decal that matches the original.
202) 
203) 
204) 
202) Polishing the pedals. One is yet to be done in
order to show you the difference between what they used to look like and what they are
now. The bushed dowel rods attached to them are kept for reference. New parts
will be made. These get quite a bit of stress and new wood and bushings should
always be provided.
203) The original lock set to the piano had long ago lost its key. This is an
unusual lock set which you cannot get a replacement key for. Therefore, I
manufactured a replacement key for this piano by hand. It works great and is a
"freebie" thrown in as a gift to the customer in thanks for all his patience in
waiting for this piece to be properly restored (which always takes much, much longer than
an indifferent restoration.)
204) Fitting the Pianomation solenoid rail into place under the piano.
205) 
206) 
207) 
205) This is a better shot of the keyframe with all of its
new under-felt. It also received graphite burnished leather parts in some places
that were originally meant to be wood against metal (on the spring side) or wood to felt
(at the bass.) I also installed a leather cover to the place where the action shift
rod meets the action. Each of these locations had worn the wood badly over time so
the leather will smooth out and perfect the function of those areas; not to mention the
fact that it is replaceable when it wears out where the wood of the keyframe is less so.
206) Because the back of the keyframe must be excised to accommodate the player
mechanism, the dags (the devices screwed to the key bed's rear) that hold the action down
must be relocated to those areas where I was able to leave wood in place and available.
We're lucky on this piano and these dags are made of rounded springs instead of
just wood as in many pianos. Because of this, I was able to shape the backs of the
keyframe stand outs and cover them with graphited leather. This lets the action
shift smoothly, slide in and out smoothly and also keeps the frame from knocking as it
bounces against the keybed because the springs hold it down nicely. This all sounds
like an easy solution but it took a day or two in order to do the research and development
that was needed to perfect this arrangement.
207) The action shift rod is made of cast iron. The point at which it
interfaces with the pedal push rods in a reverse chamfered sleeve in the metal designed to
receive a piece of shaped wood covered in leather. The wood and leather were both
shot and so new parts were made and driven into place.
208) 
209) 
210) 
208) Here, you see the restored lever with its new parts and
the old parts sitting next to it. Since the leather is stretched over and around the
wood insert, the piece has to be carefully driven into place if you want it to be reliable
and stable.
209) Leveling the keys.
210) The action had fairly well preserved push rods for the sostenuto pedal and the
damper pedal. However, I don't like trusting to old parts in this location since
they can be subject so a good deal of stress. Therefore, I hand make replacement
parts. Later, as I installed the Pianomation parts and covers, I discovered that I
had to elongate the levers a bit to clear the player action.
211) 
212) 
213) 
211) These are the damper up-stop rails that keep the damper
heads from flying too far up in the air when the key is struck boldly. When these
rails are not regulated properly, the pianist can feel a disconcerting "bump"
with each note that is the feel of the damper flying up too high and then landing on the
back of the key. This can also cause tonal problems. As you can see, the felt
on these rails is moth damaged and will be replaced. The new felt is difficult to
pre-compress so the rails will be set as tight as practicable so that no dysfunction will
develop over time as the felt compresses.
212) The refelted rails.
213) Removing the old felt from the damper heads. I often do this by soaking
the felt in water so that the material literally drops off the keys. But in this
case, I cut them off. This is not only an old piano but it has been treated badly
over the last century. I wanted to cut the dampers a break and remove the felt in
the least invasive way possible.
214) 
215) 
216) 
214) Another photo of the dampers as the felt is being
removed. You'll note that I keep them in order with a specially made board of which
I own many so that I can work multiple grands at the same time.
215) In this case, the new damper under-levers did not accommodate the old damper
wires in the way the old ones did. The wires had to be carefully shortened to adapt
them to the new levers. Just another example of how this piano seemed to fight me
every inch of the way. Virtually every task that normally takes an hour or less took
all day with this piano in order to get them just right because of design conflicts or
condition issues.
216) The restored dampers are now finished and ready to be installed into the piano.
I place them into the instrument and adjust them to perfect orientation with the
strings and with each other. Then and only then do I install the damper felt.
This insures that each piece of felt is glued on exactly where the piano needs it.
Many rebuilders glue this felt onto the dampers on the bench but their finished
results are not as good as mine because of this "cheating."
217) 
218) 
219) 
217) This is a pneumatic mechanism that I attach to the
front of the piano after all the dampers and action work is done and all the regulation is
complete. By turning this on, the entire keyboard is compressed hard enough to play
every note at the same time once every second. I leave this mechanism running for at
least twenty hours. It helps to beat in the string seating, the hammer voicing and
compresses the action and damper felts. After this "slammer" is done, I
regulate the action again from scratch. Final result, a much more stable regulation
of the piano.
218) In this photo, you see me installing the "poppets" or arms if you
prefer that actuate the keys during Pianomation operation. Each poppet has to be
checked in for lost motion (unwanted gaps between the head of the poppet and the key
felt.) The only way to get this right is to take the action apart and put the keys
back into place one at a time and test the connection, making adjustments to the rail
supports as needed. The upper point of the poppet's motion must also be checked to
ensure that it will not lift the keys off the center rails. I set these parts too
tight so that, over time, the use of the mechanism will compress the felt just enough to
perfect the amount of wanted lost motion.
219) This shows all the poppets inserted into their actuation coils (not visible.)
It also reveals the fact that the dampers are due for a fresh regulation after
having been beaten in for twenty hours or more.
220) 
221) 
222) 
220) These are the new pedal pivot pins that were made as
described earlier.
221) The under side of the pedal mechanism before the pedals were installed shows
where these pivot pins are to be inserted. This is a very old design for pedal
mounting. I've seen many newer ideas but none of them work so well or so reliably as
this old style set up.
222) The underside of the piano shows much of the Pianomation system installed.
A flash was used which, unfortunately highlights the least bit of dust. It
makes the piano look filthy underneath when, in fact, the dust is slight and barely
visible to the naked eye.
223) 
224) 
225) 
223) The power supply of the Pianomation.
224) The processor of the Pianomation.
225) The driver boards of the Pianomation.
226) 
227) 
228) 
226) Another shot like #225 inserted by accident but left in
for the sake of balance in the layout of the page.
227) The under-side of the music rack has two rounded rabbits cut in it to clear two
of the nose bolts. These were originally painted black and left as bare wood.
I lined them with leather so that they cannot create any noise against the bolts
should a large quantity of books ever be placed on the music rack thus bending it down
until it touches those nose bolts.
228) The under-side of the new lid's front locking bar. This bar fills the gap
between the lid and stretcher and carries the key half of the locking mechanism. On
the original installation, this board was simply screwed to the lid as with many lower
class pianos. Better pianos have strips of felt around the edges of the bottom of
this board for improved looks and buzz prevention. Highest end pianos have this
board completely covered with felt as shown in this picture. Another upgrade!
Also, the original lock hole brass ferrule was missing. I had one left
from my stock that could be used. The new ones available on the market are totally
wrong for any antique piano. The size is completely off. Even on the one I
had, I was required to work it by carefully stretching the inner dimensions with a metal
rod and a hammer to get it to where it would fit in the hole and accommodate the key.
229) 
230) 
231) 
229) The assembled piano. The user interface of the
Pianomation is visible to the right side of the keybed. It sticks out about
1/4". Because of the design of the keybed, this was as far back as I could get
it. Normally, I try to make it just slightly recessed behind the leading edge of the
keybed but that was not possible in this case. That also settled the issue of
whether to place this in the treble or bass side. I placed it on the treble side to
keep it from being damaged by any future mover who lacks common sense or skill.
230) A photo of the finished piano, showing the lid up and the strings. The
lid's original support stick mounting fixture was salvageable from the original so I
restored it, screwed it into place (using the stick to guide me in locating it) and lined
it with leather to silence it and made for a better joint. Usually, the stick itself
has a rubber headed nail placed into its end. The original did not do this and I did
not wish to do it either. The nail can come loose, it can also ding the lid over
time. And it can slip around in the mounting fixture. This method is much more
solid.
231) The piano with its freshly made bench shown with the surrounding environment
blacked out to give you a fresh perspective on the piano.
232) 
233) 
234) 
232) The finished piano from another angle.
233) Yet another angle.
234) A final shot to show the lid veneer and the new key.