Steinway M 260046 Soundboard Built

Sitka spruce from Washington State is the beginning of a new Soundboard. The wood is quarter sawn, straight grained and clear of any defects. 15 pieces are selected, grain oriantation determined, and cut to length needed. I edge glue 3-4 pieces together, then thickness plane them to the desired thickness. Then these 4 pieces are glued together.

The ribs are also made of quarter sawn spruce. They are planed to proper height and width, and are shaped and thinned at the ends. I personally hand fit the ribs into the slots cut in the rim for a solid tight fit. The location of the ribs are indexed, and finally the ribs are glued to the soundboard panel.

Prior to having the ribs attached, The soundboard panel is cut and shaped to fit precisly in the piano rim. It is also dried to 5% moisture content before bing pressed.

Steinway M 260046 tear down

Below are pictures of my most recent rebuild start. Even though I haven't added pictures recently, I have been very busy. This piano will get a total restoration with refinishing. The first picture shows the old pin block, bridges and soundboard. On the soundboard are the rough cut ribs which are the start of making a new soundboard. These will be hand fitted to the piano rim for a tight precise fit. The second picture shows the piano body with the soundboard and pinblock removed. More will follow in the coming weeks as work progresses. In the mean time parts need to be ordered.This is expected to be about a 12 month process.

Steinway A #280251 Final

It has been 6 months since I last posted here. It has been a very busy 6 months with 4 major rebuilds happening at once. I am grateful for the full schedule, but am glad to be finishing up the second of these projects. After the bridges were glue to the soundboard, the board was finished and installed. Following that the piano was sent to the refinisher.

Finally, the finished product. All action and damper work was completed after the new strings were installed.

Steinway A #280251 Bridge work

After the proper thickness is determined, the bridge tops are planed, and sanded smooth. The bridge pin hole locations are placed on the new top using the patterns made earlier. Then the holes are drilled, the top dyed black, and the bridge is notched. Finally the new pins are installed.

Steinway A 280251 Setting the bearing

Setting the bearing involves planing the tops of the new bridge caps to the correct thickness. The goal is to achieve proper overall down bearing as well as correct front and rear bearing. This is achieved by dry fitting the bridges to the soundboard, and dry fitting the soundboard into the piano. The plate is then installed at it's intended location, and a string is used to determint the new string line. A small kurf is cut in the bridge at numerous locations at the desired height and angle. These notches are then used as a guide to plane the entire bridge top to the correct thickness and angle.

Steinway A 280251 Pinblock Fit to plate

Installing a new pinblock requires the rebuilder to mate the wooden pinblock perfectly to the cast iron plate. I a Steinway it also needs to be perfectly fit toe the case, with ends tight and the front mated with the stretcher. The pinblock must also be the correct thickness and also located correctly both side to side and front and back. The pictures below tell some of the story.

Steinway A 280251 Bridge work

This post will review re-capping the bridges. In summery, the bridge pins are removed, patterns are made, and then the caps of the bridges are removed with the band saw. The original bridge bodies are then reused by filling the old holes with wooden pegs, and gluing a new cap of quarter sawn hard rock maple. At a later time the caps will be planed to the correct thickness (setting the bearing) and the patterns will be used to locate the new bridge pins.

Pins have been removed, and pattern has been made and indexed.

Caps removed, and old pin holes filled.

After bridge body has been planed, new cap is prepared, and then glued to original bridge body.