Restoration of a Schubert Grand for the Barry Family Page Two
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25) 
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25) Here the new scroll on the leg with the missing part is being color matched to
the rest of the leg.
26) There the repaired leg has been lacquered.
27) The rest of the loose boards being lacquered in the spray booth.
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28) The lid after it has been lacquered in the spray booth.
29) The new pin block has been rough cut on the band saw. Here you see it next
to the original block.
30) The bass bridge is receiving a new maple cap.
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31) Here the new bass bridge cap is being laid out for drilling. Note the
Plexiglas jig used for marking where the holes will be drilled for new bridge pins.
32) The new bridge cap after the notches have been cut, finish applied and pins
driven into place. The bottom of the bridge is covered with tape to protect the glue
joint from contaminants until it can be glued to the new sound board. You can see
the old bridge cap sitting in front of the finish bass bridge assembly. The old cap
was so far gone that it actually fell off the bridge making machining it off unnecessary.
33) The bottom of the treble bridge is being treated with vinegar and water to
remove the old glue and bits of sound board without damaging the surface of the glue
joint. The towels are soaked with the solution and then an iron is run over them.
In this way the bridge is exposed to the water for only a few minutes to get all
the unwanted residues off of it.
34) 
35) 
36) 
34) This piano has a Duffiano steel rim. Instead of a wooden inner rim
onto which the sound board is glued, it has a steel rim with a wooden strip of wood that
is screwed to its top. The original strip of wood was useless so a new one had to be
made. Using plywood this time that was made of the hardest wood available.
This should be much more durable than the original because of its many layers. In
#34 you see the entire piece being fitted into the rim. In #35, you see the final
strip after it was cut from the larger piece. The inner rim of pianos (or the ledge
on which the sound board is glued) should have a slight angle to it that helps the sound
board to retain its crown. The original design didn't have this but the new one
does.
36) Here you see the sound board press set up and ready to be prepared for gluing up
the new sound board.
37) 
38) 
39) 
37) The plate before it was rebronzed.
38) Here you see the damper guide rail being rebushed. Behind it, you can see
that the action is being reassembled.
39) Here you see the ribs to the new sound board have been fitted to the piano and
duplicated as to profile from the original. It was decided that it would be best to
make the ribs a bit stronger than the original due to the way in which the original
failed.
40) 
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42) 
40) The "skin" of the board has now been fitted closely into the case of
the piano. By using index marks the orientation of the new board has been matched to
that of the original. Now, using those index markings, the locations of bridge screw
holes and other holes are being transferred to the new board.
41) This shows one of the new ribs along its profile. This picture clearly
shows how the crown in the sound board has been already cut into the rib. This crown
is calculated based upon a sixty foot radius.
42) This show the jig that allows each rib to be cut with the correct crown. A
special series of marks on the jig allow for precise placement of the rib blanks so that
the finished rib will be highest where it falls under the long bridge. It isn't
always advisable or possible to put the high point on the rib exactly under the long
bridge. Sometimes that location needs to be eased somewhat to compensate for other
factors.
43) 
44) 
45) 
43) Another picture of the rib crowning jig from a different angle.
44) The sound board press is all set up and ready to receive the new sound board
skin and ribs. The green is thick action felt that cushions the sound board skin and
keeps it from being damages when it is subjected to the tremendous forces of the press.
45) This shows that the clamping cauls of the sound board press are also built with
the exact amount of crown that the sound board ribs are made to.
46) 
47) 
48) 
46) This picture shows that the substructure of the press is also made to the same
crowning dimensions. When the board is removed from the press most of the crown that
runs the direction of this substructure disappears. However, the crown in the board
along this axis reappears permanently when the long bridge is glued to the board in the
next step.
47) The sound board skin and ribs are now completely in place, glued up and under
pressure.
48) After the ribs had cured over night, the board was removed from the press, the
long bridge was located and screwed to the board and then quickly placed back into the
press so that the extra pressure of the press could improve the glue joint and also so
that the press could impart crown into the board by the way it held the long bridge.
49) 
50) 
51) 
49) This shows the ribs being rounded to match the original profiles.
50) The design of this piano is quite unique. The sound board cannot be glued
into the piano as in most instruments. Instead, a special strip of wood serves as
the holder of the glue joint. The term for this in a normal piano is the rastin.
For this piano, a new rastin was made and glued to the sound board outside the
piano. Later, the rastin/sound board assembly was screwed and epoxied to the steel
beam that serves as the main structural element in this piano.
51) The rastin is not glued into place. Special hardwood dowels were drilled
and inserted into the rastin in any place where a screw was expected to penetrate it.
This gave the rastin extra screw gripping strength in those areas.
52) 
53) 
54) 
52) The bass bridge is glued, screwed and clamped inside the press.
53) All joints that are to receive glue or epoxy later are taped off and then the
sound board is given some preliminary finish.
54) Here the preliminary finish is on but the bridges will still need to be taped
off. The board will be epoxied into the piano (the original manufacturer only
screwed the board to the beam with no epoxy. This method didn't hold very well.)
then some strips of wood for supporting the plate and for trimming off the exposed
edges of the board will be glued and screwed into place. Then the board will receive
an extra finish coat before the tape can be removed from the bridges.
55) 
56) 
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60) 
55) Because of the way the piano was designed it was necessary to screw and epoxy
the rastin along the front edge (or belly rail) of the piano first instead of gluing it to
the sound board first. When the sound board was epoxied and screwed to the steal
frame, it had to be glued and clamped to the front rastin board as shown in this picture.
56) - 60) These show the making of the strip of wood that fits to the exposed edge
of the sound board where no cast iron plate structure will exist. In the original
design this board was simply cosmetic. In the restoration, this board was fitted
better and attached in such a way as to increase the strength of the board along this
edge. The front edge as shown in #56 & #60 was made so that it had to be driven
under a gap in the rim. Hence increasing the force with which it is able to press
down on and secure the joint of the sound board.
