Schomacker Piano Rebuild Page Five
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:
37) The damper guide rails are scraped, bleached and refinished. Although you can't seem them very well once they have been reinstalled, I like knowing that they look beautifully new if I want to tear into the piano and look at them. The old bushings are left in place until the new finish has dried. This protects the gluing surface that the new cloth will be put into from being contaminated with finish.
38) Here, the damper heads have been prepared for new felt and the wires polished.
39) Here, the old key bushings have been removed.
40) This shows the old key felt (called punchings) being measured for thickness. The guide pins for the keys are measured at the same time so that the correctly sized bushing cauls can be selected for clamping the new key bushings in place while the glue is drying.
41) The keybed has been restored. The key pins have been polished and all new felt installed. In many pianos, this felt is still in good condition. If the felt is still good, it is more economical to reuse it. I will just take the felts up and put them back on upside down in order to present their best (and flattest) side to the keys. The next step for the keybed is to be installed (without the action attached) into the piano and the bottom is refitted to the piano to make sure there are no voids that could knock when the piano is played.
Another extra step I take here that many rebuilders do not: I place the new key felt and let off buttons (see picture 47) into clamps and put it under heavy pressure for a couple of weeks before installing it into the piano. This minimizes future settling that the felt goes through after it is put into service.
42) Rebushing the keys. Only the best felt is used. You can see in this picture, the cauls that are used to ensure that the finished product will fit the guide pins perfectly.
43) Rebushing the centers of the keys.
44) This picture shows before and after shots of the sides of the keys. On many rebuilt pianos, you will note that when you push a key down and look at its neighbors that the sides of the keys are filthy. Many rebuilders don't bother to clean these. If I am replacing the keytops on a piano, then I will glass bead blast the sides of the keys with the finest grit of glass bead made. If the keytops are being kept, then I will clean off the dirt with a scotch brite or sanding block. Again, attention to detail is the key. I want the job to look perfect when its done. No shortcuts!
45) The ebonies are resurfaced then rubbed out for a smooth touch that has just the right amount of traction. A more expensive route is to replace the ebonies. On some jobs, where the budget allows for this, I recommend doing just that. But usually, the original ebonies can be made to look and feel very nice without the added expense of new ones.
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