Restoration of a Steinway X Upright for Richard Davis
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91) A photo of the blanks after the plate has been removed.
I use a brad point bit that fits the tuning pin holes in the plate exactly.
Then I place the bit through the metal and against the wood and then run the drill
backwards. This leaves a mark from the brad point without removing any wood.
In this case, my drill died recently and I have not had a chance to replace it with a new
one. I'm using an old drill which doesn't go backwards. Happily, I still own
my grandfathers old brace and so I was able to do this with that antique tool.
92) Note in this photo and the preceding how the Rastin for the
sound board has a dirty finish on it but clearly was never made to fit snugly into the
plate like it should have.
93) A close up of the bass section showing the drilling marks. Since
the bits will be placed into the pin block at an appropriate angle to help the coils of
wire gather neatly onto the tuning pins and to give the pin leverage to resist the pull of
the strings, I always angle the marking drill so that my marks take into account the angle
the pins will occupy. Steinway plates leave precious little room for error in
drilling out for the tuning pins so all conceivable steps must be taken to ensure
accuracy.
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94) A shot of the upper part of the blank showing the
drilling marks.
95) Now for the flaw in the plate design. These blocks of laminated
hardwood were extracted from a similar quality piano which I totally dismantled for use in
other jobs like this. The wood will be fitted and thicknessed so as to provide
superior reinforcement to the sound board Rastin.
96) These blocks of maple and birch being glued into place. I also
chose these particular pieces of wood since I know them to be upwards of 100 years old and
very likely to behave exactly like the rest of the lumber in this piano as regards
expansion and contraction with the seasons.
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97) The glue up taken with the flash from underneath.
98) A photo of the inserted wood that will serve to compensate for
Steinways laziness in this area.
99) A photo of one of the pin block insert blanks being drilled out. A
constant suction is maintained as drilling proceeds to collect dust and chips as well as
keeping the bit at a constant and fairly cool temperature to ensure even tuning feel for
future servicemen/women.
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100) Gluing the inserts into place with epoxy rated for use in salt
water boat building. This is very slow drying epoxy but very strong with a specific
gravity of 1.3 when fully cured.
101) A nice photo of the installed and cleaned up inserts for the
pin block and the inserts that connect the pin block to the sound board Rastin frame.
102) A close up so close that it had to be done with the scanner...
This shows the back of a Steinway X whippen. Note how the metal "spoon"
which lifts the damper is bent cleanly around the screw hole. This is a nicety that
you won't find in any other pianos any more. The shape of the lifter spoon makes it
easy to attach and/or remove the whippen without causing any problems or getting the screw
or your screw driver stuck on the spoon. All other pianos use a more or less
straight wire spoon that is angled one way or the other to make contact with the
damper. However, no thought is given to ease in removal of the whippen any
more. This is a sample of a truly great feature in piano action construction which
has been lost. Happily, the replacement parts for this design of action replicate
these spoons.
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103) This scan was taken on a whim of mine. I wanted to have
a photo record of what the bridle tapes of 120 years ago looked like. Now, the cloth
tape is reinforced at the end where the wire spears into it with a simple and straight
(not to mention thin) piece of vinyl like material that is relatively rectangular in
shape. This design has a bulbous tip where the spear enters the bridle tape.
This makes the end of the tape stronger because there is more material at the end to
surround the spear.
104) The next two shots are scans of hammer-shank-hammer butt assemblies
with the dampers that fit to the opposite end of the mounting flange removed. You
see, the best way to construct any piano hammer/shank assembly is to arrange it so that,
when the hammer makes contact with the strings, the hammer shank is parallel to the
strings and the hammer is at a perfect 90 degree angle. If any variance is placed on
that angle (which some designs call for) we call that variant measurement
"rake." It is not uncommon to find pianos that have rake built into them
whether the instrument be an upright or a grand. However, rake is never the
best way to go in any situation. It is applied as a last resort necessity brought on
by some other fault in the overall design of the system. The design of this system
is clearly in need of no rake whatsoever. Yet, if you look at this photo and the one
to follow, you will find that Steinway installed a ridiculous amount of rake into the
hammers. I could forgive this if I thought that the hammers had been replaced and
some incompetent piano technician had put a set of replacement hammers on all wrong.
But I recognize the hammers. They are reinforced with the same blue liquid
used by Steinway in that time, the felt feels like Steinway felt and the glue collars at
the bass of each hammer is original since it shows no signs of any tell-tail replacement
witness marks. Steinway simply did this badly. I will endeavor to do better
than them when installing the new hammers onto the new action.
105) By the way, the reason why the hammers should be at 90 degrees and the
shanks parallel with the strings at the moment of impact is because it is the most
efficient way to impart all of the energy inserted into the system by the artist to the
strings.
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106) A series of photos of my taking the action apart
follows. Not much to say here. The photos are self-explanatory. I
started off with a photo or two before I began and then took pictures as each layer of
action components were removed. I did save all the old parts should the owner wish
to retain the historical original action parts. I didn't do this with the strings
and won't do so with the sound board or bridges as they are usually to much of a pain to
keep "around the house" but I thought he might at least want one of each part...
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112) All the worn out action parts have been removed.
Although they are in a box (hardly a museum-level step) they are numbered for future
reference in case I need it. If the job had been sold as a museum level project,
many things would have been left in the piano which would have left the instrument fairly
useless to Mr. Davis. The final goal on this project is reliability, functionality
and beauty both aural and visual. Although I can do museum grade restorations (at
additional expense) this piano does not necessarily require such. If it were
Steinway piano #003, then we would by all means do a museum grade restoration. But
the truth is that this is simply another very fine piano with even more fine surprises
revealed as we went along. A fine piano requires the best of restoration techniques
and efforts made to leave it highly reliable, beautiful and functional for decades to
come. But we need not get lost in the maelstrom of tagging and cataloguing and extra
restoration of original parts required when restoring, say, a 1726 Cristofori pianoforte.
113) I haven't had anything to say obviously. However, I am
quite amazed here and thought I would share it with you. Normally the hammer rest
rail's felt is in need of replacement from moth damage or dirt contamination. This
instrument has a very unique installation of that felt. It is common practice
amongst the better builders to attach all heavy felt strips on and under a piano action by
gluing it only at the edge so that the rest floats free. This keeps the felt from
compressing too quickly and keeps it that way longer. The felt on this hammer rest
rail is purple. It is not held in place with any glue. It is screwed down
every eight inches or so. Since the felt is thick and dense, the screws never worked
loose nor did the felt work its way off the screws. In addition, the moths have left
the felt entirely alone. Even underneath where the moths do their worst, there isn't
a single bite taken out. In addition, the felt is still acceptably clean and supple.
Finally, it does have dimples in it for the hammer shanks to rest in. Since a
new action is going in, there will be plenty of new felt and leather to compress and throw
off the regulation. I intend to keep this felt since it will not effect the
regulation as it compresses since that compression is complete and stabilized permanently.
As long as the piano is kept in a clean environment with even humidity, I have
little doubt but that this felt will still be good to reuse in another 120 years.
114) The bare frame with all the action parts removed. There are
components which need polished, some that need painting and some rebushing as well.
Besides that, however, all is well. Steinway actions are made by inserting a maple
dowel into a brass tube. Holes in the tube allow the mounting screws to pass into
the wood and hold the action parts secure. At this piano's age, it would not be
surprising to find the maple screw holes stripped. Replacing the wood in a Steinway
action rail is not impossible but it is miserable. This wood is in jolly good shape.
At this point the photos will stop for a while so that I can take the time to finish other projects that have priority at this time. In fact, it was productive to do the work described in these last 114 photographs because I found myself without enough tubing to complete Rev. Menaugh's top action. This kept the ball rolling for everyone while I awaited the arrival of the tubing; which is now here. My desire to complete everyone's projects as soon as I am able is my driving motivation for all I do; secondary only to the maintenance of quality standards. I will also be sending the loose boards off to the stripper. However, I would like to delay stripping the rest of the boards until such time as I'm ready to work on them soon. In the mean time, the old paint will protect the cabinet pieces. It was, in part, why I went ahead and finished the pin block now (to make up for the fact that the stripping will be held off until a more appropriate phase of the restoration.) I have no doubts at this point about the beauty of the wood underneath but that wood will be served better by keeping it secure from moisture and dust until I'm ready to put new finish on it fairly immediately.
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