Schomacker Piano Rebuild Page Four
See the bottom of this page for thumbnails of the pictures - - click on the number of each step to go directly to the picture it describes:
28) Here the screws are going into the plate for the last time.
29) Here the plate felts are being prepared for installation. The thickness of the plate felts is critical because it effects the down bearding of the strings.
30) Here is a divided picture showing the new plate bushings going in on the left. On the right a hand drill of significantly smaller size than the tuning pin holes is used to angle the holes in the plate bushings to coincide with the angle of the holes in the pin block. Some rebuilders, even if they do install new bushings, will skip this step. The result of skipping this step is that they tuning pins will loosen up prematurely.
31) Here the tuning pins are being checked to be sure they are nicely round (all defective ones are discarded) and sorted for exact size. The pins will vary as much as .001" to .0015" in diameter. The three butter dishes contain the three largest sizes and the box will be later filled with the smallest size of all. The difference in size from one container to the next is about .0005". This may not seem like much, but when perfection is your goal in all your work, then all the small things have to be done. When all the little details are tended to, the finished product shows the cumulative effect of your effort very clearly.
32) The piano is being restrung.
33) The restringing continues. It is important, as you restring a piano, not to kink, bend or twist the wire. If you do, false beats could develop in the strings once they are up to pitch. The string that I use (made by Rőslau - the best!); the bass strings that I use (wound by Ari Isaac - the best!); coupled with attention to detail in the rebuilding and a carefully redesigned wire scale can make the finished piano sound a foot longer than it would have if done with less quality materials and less careful craftsmanship. (Note: the longer a piano's strings are, the better the quality of the tone. That is why the statement about your piano sounding a foot longer than it would have if done with less attention to detail. For a little bit more in cost of materials and (for most parts of a job) nothing more in cost of labor, you can make the piano sound like a comparable new instrument that would have cost many, many thousands of dollars more!)
34) The bass strings are laid out and ready to put on.
35) After the stringing is compete, the strings are all seated into place. They are tapped home with a brass rod against the plate and bridges. The wraps around the tuning pins are carefully snugged into place. The place where the piano wire goes into the tuning pin (called a becket) is pressed in tightly. Getting the coils of piano wire around the tuning pins to be neat and even in appearance is one of the toughest jobs to learn in restringing. It takes years of practice to get good at it.
Important!!: You will note a tool with a wooden handle and a brass wheel attached to it at the top of picture #35. We call this a string stretcher. It is used by MANY rebuilders to stretch the piano wire once it is pulled tight onto the piano. The reason for this is that the new piano wire will never stay in tune well for some time. By using this tool, you can get the piano to stay in tune better, sooner. If the rebuilder your thinking of hiring uses this tool, either don't hire him or ask him not to use it on your piano. This tool, in my opinion, can do harm to the strings by causing false beats to develop in them as soon as the tool has been used. Even if false beats don't develop, I feel the quality of the strings tone throughout the piano is harmed by the use of this tool! It can take a year for piano strings to finish stretching naturally and you will need to have the piano tuned many times in the course of that first year. But it is well worth it to retain the beauty of your instrument's tone.
36) The finished stringing job.
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