Steinway A Ready to String

I had hoped to string the Steinway this week, but a flurry of tuning calls has delayed the process. Next week I am on vacation, so hopefully June 28 will be the day to start. The pinblock has been drilled, and the plate suspension dowels installed, and the board top finished prior to the plate installation.

Schomaker Upright Piano

I recently began a soundboard project on a Schomaker upright piano built in Philadelphia in 1903. This is a very interesting piano. I will note some of it's unique features.

First off, the sides are doweled and held to the back by two large bolts and nuts. There was no glue used. This is wonderful for the rebuilder, as the sides are very easily removed and replaced.

The rim that the soundboard is attached to is a large laminated "U" shaped rim, much like a grand piano rim. The pinblock is mortised into this "rim" and the bottom portion of the pinblock serves as the top liner for the soundboard to be attached.

Instead of back posts, there is a cast "spider" that is lagged to the corners of the rim, and is attached to the bottom side of the pinblock. The plate has a horn much like a grand piano, that comes in contact with the spider.

This piano should rock! It has a strange scale, so should be re-scaled. I'll keep you posted as work progresses.

Steinway A Soundboard Trim

After the new soundboard is glued into the piano, there are several pieces of trim that need to be installed. These are 1/2" cove moldings. These are round, and need to be pressed both down onto the board and side ways to the piano side. The photos show the cauls I use to accomplish this.

Steinway A Soundboard Glued

I am hoping to get my Steinway A strung in the near future. The first step is gluing the completed board into the piano. Today was the day...nearly 1 year after the board was pressed. In that year I have done case repairs and sprayed with black lacquer, recapped and installed the bridges onto the board, and finised the underside of the board.