silverwoodpianos

Heintzman & Co of Canada

2012-02-18T15:56:00.000-08:00

Finishing a piano scaledesign on his kitchen table in 1860, this drawing is often thought to be theone that launched his career in the piano building business. By 1866 enoughcapital had been raised for Theodore Heintzman to open his own factory.

By 1879 more than 1,000instruments had been manufactured, and this factory passed the 2,000 mark in1884 some five years later.

In 1896 Theodore Heintzmancompleted a drawing of a particular plate design that would catapult theHeintzman Piano Co to the top of the Canadian piano market, where this companywould remain for more than 100 years.
This plate designincorporated what is called the Patented Agraffe Bridge. This bridge takes theplace of the pressure bar assembly usually found in upright pianos. In thegrand piano, this bridge takes the place of the v-bar design which the stringspass under.

The bridge has holesdrilled at 7-10 degrees angle for bearing purposes. Each piece of treble pianowire must pass through one of the holes and then be attached at both the hitchpin and the tuning pin.

This particular piano platedesign causes the Canadian Heintzman piano to be one of the most difficult pianosto re-string. In the upright version, one can tilt the piano over onto atilting piano truck which will help to find the hole for each piece of wire.Another way to accomplish restringing of an upright with this bridge is to havea mirror placed underneath the working area and a lamp on top to shine lightinto the holes.

In the grand version ofthis piano the flange with the holes cannot be seen at all from either thetuning pin side or the sounding board side of the plate. Also, because thegrand piano pin block must be supported from underneath when driving the pinsin, usually a small mirror is used or the job is done by feel only.

One of the benefitsof having this type of design is to keep each piano string of the unison equaldistance away from each other for quality sound and for equal hammer wear overthe entire surface of the hammer strike point.

Another benefit of thistype of design is to prevent bridge roll. Bridge roll syndrome is when thetreble bridge attached to the piano sounding board is slowly dragged, in alengthwise rolling motion, towards the player over years being under tremendoustension. This is often one of the contributing factors in the sounding boarddeterioration of pianos.

Here aresome photos of the Heintzman & Co Patented Agraffe Bridge. Both the uprightversion and the grand version of this design are shown here.

HeintzmanCoPatentedAgraffeBridge

Grand Piano Restoration: Keyboard Set-up

2011-12-29T11:23:00.001-08:00

The key frame at this point had the old feltsremoved and has been fitted with the replacement felts measured for correctsize against the original. The key frame is then fitted into the cavity of theinstrument and checked for warping against the key bed and shimmed ifnecessary.

Once thekey set is completely restored with new bushing felt, new buckskin back checks,damper lifter felts, and the capstans polished, the key set is ready to bereturned to the key frame and set up with the correct geometry using felt andpaper punching to lift or lower the key set.

Here aresome photos of that process being completed.

Keyboard Level and Dip

A Tuner’s Life 5

2011-12-26T06:44:00.000-08:00

Last week I had a pretty special morning. Ateacher had called and asked if they could have a piano tuned and have ademonstration at the same time. Nothing special about tuning with the exceptionthat this was the Jericho Hill School for Deaf Children,,,

About 15-20 kids in the class total. Many of them were not completely withouthearing and they were amazed at the sound of beats between two out- of- tunestrings. I used some in the temperament octave to demonstrate. Many of thechildren wanted to put their hands on the piano to feel the tuning rather thanhear it……

But there is always one child right??

This very small boy……. (small for his age), was kind of hanging back in thebackground. I asked if he was interested too because when most of the childrenare looking and touching, he was just looking. I sensed that maybe he was a bitshy, before the teacher informed me that he could not speak either.

I stopped what I was doing and moved my tool box to the end of the bench, thenlooking at him directly I patted the available space on the bench. Well thisboy practically ran people over to get to sit on the end of the bench….. Theteacher told me that this fellow just loves anything that moves… (mechanicalmotion).

After I started to actually tune for real, most of the children lost interestsomewhat, and moved onto other sources of entertainment. But not this onefellow, he sat on the end of the bench…..when I used a wire mute and then turnedfor another one; he got one out of my toolbox and handed it to me…..thenanother one. I showed him where the bass mutes were and allowed him to hand methose ones too….

A couple of times he got off the bench to see what I was doing and I had to getthe teacher to sign for me so that the boy could understand what my responsewas. At the end of the tuning he carried my small box of tools out to the carand then ran quickly back inside…. At the door of the school he looked back andgave me a big wave goodbye………….a very special day for him too…..

I drove back to the shop thinking about that movie with William Hurt.

Grand Piano Restoration: Ivory Repairs II

2011-12-25T10:10:00.001-08:00

To continuewith piano ivory repairs here is the method I use for replacing the tail. Ihave found when replacing piano ivory head and tail it is best to set the tail last.By setting the tail last this will give the proper length of the head over thefront of the key.

In the previous blog posting on piano ivoryrestoration, we set a new head to a pre-existing tail. Just to review, the newhead only fit in that case because the manufacturer of the piano (Heintzman)had a consistency of ivory products, so for that piano maker the heads andtails are interchangeable under certain conditions.

Most of thetime it is best to replace the head and tail as matching original heads to theoriginal tail gives the best results.

In order tocomplete this task properly, I start by clamping the tail without any glue (dryfit) into place using the old marks left by the original tail and head. Usuallythe line of the tail end is left on the wooden key along with a line where thehead and tail bond together. Once the tail is dry fit into place, the head canbe set with adhesive as shown in the previous posting on repairing piano ivory.Then, once the head is dry, the clamps and plate can be removed and then thetail glued into place. I usually leave the head and clamps in place as I willneed them for replacing and setting the tail.

I alwaysput a little horizontal pressure on the tail by making the set points with theclamps a little too small. Once the head is set and dry it will not move; thenthe tail can be set correctly without checking the measurements.

The toolsare the same for setting the tails; the iron to heat the plates, the choice oforiginal pre-mixed glue, or the glue wafers, and the plates for the tails whichare slightly different but used in the same way.

Here is aphoto set of how I set the tail on replacement piano ivory head and tail.

IvoryRestoration Tail Replacement

Grand Piano Restoration: Ivory Repairs

2011-12-14T09:51:00.001-08:00

One of themost time consuming and painstaking tasks associated with piano restoration,ivory repair rates up there as one ofthe most difficult to accomplish properly.

The removalof old broken or chipped ivory is fairly easy and straight forward to complete.The original ivory glue is heat and water activated so heat and water make itsoft once again.

I havefound over years of practice that for most ivory repairs it is a waste of timeto try to match existing pieces with another head or tail. If one side of theivory, either the head or tail, is missing or chipped, I have found it best toreplace both pieces. When replacing both pieces the difficulty of matching theseam between the head and tail of different qualities of ivory does not presentitself as a problem.

Here aretwo of the most common ways to repair ivory; first using the pre-glued linenwafers, and then using the original premixed hide glue readily available fromsuppliers in Germany.

Unless ivory repairs are done all the time onegets out of practice immediately.

At times,with certain manufacturers, ivory pieces can be retrofitted from one head ortail to another but very few companies had a continual supply of ivory that wasidentical in grade and quality. With the Heintzman Company of Canada the qualityof the ivory was quite consistent so I am able to replace a chipped head onlyin this case.

Whetherreplacing just the head or doing the complete head and tail assembly, I havefound it best to set the head first. This is to obtain the correct length over the leading edge of the key. Here is a photo album of setting anivory head against an existing tail with text instructions underneath each photo.

Ivory Restoration Head Replacement

Vintage A & S Nordheimer Upright

2011-11-16T06:32:00.001-08:00

The brand name Nordheimer is the oldest andlongest lasting in the music industry in Canada. In June of 1844 brothersSamuel and Abraham Nordheimer opened a small business in Toronto, Canadaoffering music books square pianofortes, and sewing supplies. To begin with,the Nordheimer brothers were agents for Broadwood, Stodart, and Chickeringpianos. The firm did not actually enter the piano manufacturing business until1886.

By thattime, Abraham Nordheimer had passed, and Samuel and Albert (Abraham’s son)decided to enter into piano manufacturing with Gerhard Heintzman and formed theLansdowne Piano Co.

Tom Mason,Vincent Risch, (Mason & Risch Piano Co.)and Octavius Newcombe( NewcombePiano Co.) were also partnered with this venture each having his own namestencilled on the pianos that came down the Lansdowne production lines.

Thiscompany was short lived and lasted only five years before each of the partnersopted to have their own manufacturing firms.

TheNordheimers built their own factory in east Toronto and began turning out oneof the finer pianos built in Canada. As a manufacturer of grand’s, uprights,and players, Nordheimer produced 12, 000 instruments before Samuel died in1912. In 1927 when Albert retired, Heintzman & Co purchased the assets of thecompany and ran the brand name until the mid 60’s.

To find anA & S Nordheimer today is a rare thing because this was such an earlycompany. I came across this piano aboutfive years ago when the owner contacted me to inspect the instrument for restorationpurposes. This piano was purchased new by her grandmother, eventually findingits way to my client. This is also a rare thing; to find a piano more than onehundred years old and still in the original owners family.

Becausethis piano was a rare vintage piece in outstanding condition for its age, Iencouraged the owner to complete minimally invasive restoration. By this I meanto fix only what had deteriorated due to age.

The tuningpin torque had dropped to unacceptable levels so the piano was restrung in thebass and treble with new tuning pins. All felt work in the keyboard wasreplaced. The action was reconditioned, and a decision was made to retain theoriginal hammer set to be replaced at a later date.

The cabinetwas left in original condition because it was in such good shape. Here is aphoto album of the piano.

ASNordheimer6156

Grand Piano Restoration: Ebony Sharps Refinished

2011-10-28T17:21:00.002-07:00

I use this process because itis fast, works well, and gives good results. First the ebony sharps are cleanedwith white vinegar to remove all dirt and grime from use. At times this type ofverdigris is hard to remove. In that case a stronger cleaner such as MethylHydrate is used. With any type of chemical cleaner such as Methyl Hydrate,always make sure you have proper safety gear available; gloves and arespirator, along with good ventilation or use these products outside ifpossible.

I like to usethe alcohol pigmentation stains in the new aerosol spray form. I find them reallyquick and easy; spray on the key top, let the alcohol flash off for a minuteand then wipe the excess away. Allow thirty minutes to dry before spraying atop coat of satin lacquer.

Usually the keys in the center of the piano havethe colour worn away below where the ebony sharp is attached. This will show asbare wood when the key set is played. I use another new product that is a feltmarker pen with the alcohol pigmentation stain and lacquer together.

Here are afew photos of the process and the finished product.

Ebony Sharps Refinished

Grand Piano Restoration: Keyboard Repairs

2011-10-20T17:16:00.000-07:00

Once theaction rack is separated from the key frame, the key set is removed and the keyframe checked against the key bed for warping or other types of damage. I usually bed the frame empty once or twicejust to see how the key end blocks are set up and, once tightened down, observeif they interfere with the bedding of the frame in certain areas.

When thekey frame is seated well into the bed, the key frame is then removed andrebuilt with the usual replacement punchings on front and back rails, alongwith bolster cloth or key end cloth. When replacing cloths, by using the samegrade of materials or close to the original, and by taking into account overallwear, this keeps the adjustments to a minimum when regulating after clothreplacement.

The key setis completed in the usual way; replacement back check felt and buckskin, keybushings replaced top and bottom, and the original ebonies are re-ebonized andcoated with a satin / flat finish. The original ivories, if still found on theinstrument, are cleaned, whitened, and polished.

Here isa photo album of the various repairs to the key frame and the key set.

Keyboard Repairs

Also here is a photo album of key bushing repairs.

KeyBushingRepairs

Grand Piano Restoration: Damper Felt Replacements

2011-10-19T17:36:00.002-07:00

With anyrestringing job completed the price includes replacement damperfelt. Along with all of the dirt and oils collected by the felt over years ofservice, the original felt work will be worn in a particular pattern that wouldnot fit well over the new strings. I find it best to install new felt so thenew wire can form its own pattern in fresh materials.

Replacementdamper felt can be found in bulk or in pre-cuts; either way is a satisfactoryreplacement. Some times when replacing felt work one can discover a cut orlength of felt that is not offered by the supply house standard pre-cuts.

There are several felt guillotines sold by thepiano supply houses, and all of them do the job of custom cut felt in much thesame way. I use the guillotine quite a bit as I make my own backing felts attimes out of non- traditional reds and other colours.

Once thereplacement felts are ready for install they are glued into place with hot hideglue. After 24 hours the dampers are ready to be reinstalled into the piano.Because the damper wires were marked with a scribe previous to removal theinstallation goes quite rapidly.

Here aresome photos of the damper replacement process and one of the felt cutters.

Replacement Damper Felts

Musical Legacies

2011-10-10T17:50:00.003-07:00

Music at the University of WesternOntario has followed a unique and interesting past; evolving into a Faculty in1968; today it is one of the top centres of musical excellence in Canada.

Early beginnings were in 1903with the formation of the Conservatory of London. The institute of Musical Artwas opened in 1919 to teach “the art and science of music, voice, culture, andexpression.” The institute operated under the auspices of the University ofToronto and Toronto Conservatory.

Music classes were offered byWestern in 1934 which is the same year that the Institute was incorporated asthe Western Conservatory of Music. The Sunday Nine O’clock Series was launched the following year,generating interest in music education at the university.

The principal of thefour-year-old Western Ontario Conservatory of Music was appointed Director ofMusic for the University in year 1938. When the McIntosh Gallery opened in1942, the conservatory offices were moved into the building. During the 1943-44academic years, 12 students were allowed to take a music course for academiccredit.

In 1948, with financialassistance from the A.E. Silverwood Foundation, the Music Teachers' College wasestablished to provide a level of professional training at the University of Western Ontario.

Three levels of instruction wereestablished; secondary level instruction at Western Conservatory, MusicTeacher’s College at the collegiate level, and the Department of Music inUniversity College.

Music continued at the McIntoshGallery, but space became increasingly cramped. Nine years later, in 1957 theSilverwood Foundation presented the residence and grounds to the University of Western Ontario, as apermanent home for the Music College in memory of A. E. Silverwood, who wasgovernor of the University from 1930-1954.

In 1957 that the Music Teacher’sCollege relocated to “Goodholme” as the residence was known.

In 1961 the name of the collegewas changed to College of Music when it became part of the Faculty of Arts andSciences. Even today the building is still known as the “Silverwood Block.”

Seven years later on July 1^st1968, as a result of the re-organization of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences,the College of Music became a separate facility. In 1971, the construction ofthe Music Building on campus was completed.Following a generous donationfrom Dr. Donald Wright in October of 2002 the Faculty of Music was renamed theDon Wright Faculty of Music.

With more than 500 undergraduate students, 110 graduatestudents and more than 100 teachers, the Faculty is small enough to foster thedevelopment of close-working relationships with professors and colleagues, yetlarge enough to support a full symphony orchestra, fully staged opera andmusical theatre productions, prize-winning choirs and a top-notch wind bandprogram. Today UWO produces more than 300 concerts each year, most ofwhich are free and open to the public.

The Don Wright Faculty of Music also houses the worldrenowned Piano Technical program which migrated from George Brown College inToronto during the mid to late 1980’s.

Goodholme is situated within King'sUniversity College, a sprawling, park-like campus at the University of WesternOntario. Together with several other historic buildings, including St. PetersSeminary, it contributes to the serene atmosphere of the property.

Goodholme is a fine example of theTudor Revival style of architecture executed on a large residential scale.Characteristic of this style, the house features steeply-pitched rooflines andtall windows. It is composed of stone, half-timbering and stucco. Otherelements that typify the Tudor Revival style include the multi-paned windows,the decorative carvings on the projecting window bays and the dormer windows onthe façade and all elevations. Also of note is the recessed entry on thefaçade, which features a projecting stone arcadeand covered driveway.

Here is a photo album of how Goodholmelooks today.

Silverwood Block

Grand Piano Restoration: Stringing the Plate

2011-09-18T08:18:00.001-07:00

It has beenseveral weeks since the plate gilding was sprayed, and the finish will be hardenough to cover over and begin the process of stringing the plate.

There arethree most common ways to string that I know of; a coil maker like the Sciortinocoil maker, there is the hand held dummy pin, and there is the method of havingthe tuning pins just inside the existing hole.

Which oneof these choices is most comfortable for the worker produces the same results. Withthe latter two methods one has to be able to make the coils even and make surethe beckets are all in line or close to being in line. When using a coil maker,each coil is made for you by the tool itself.

For theHeintzman product, I choose to make the coils around a tuning pin set into thetop of the existing hole. Because the Heintzman piano comes with the PatentedAgraffe Bridge, this is likely the most difficult piano to string.

The PatentedAgraffe Bridge is a flange casted into the piano plate. This flange takes theplace of individual agraffes which can be found in the center sections of allgrand pianos. In the agraffe flange there are a series of holes drilled at 7degrees angle where each piece of treble wire must pass through.

Because ofthe bridgework on the sounding board, and the low position of the plate, thereis no way to view the backside of the existing hole to install each piece ofwire. At times, a small hand mirror can be used, but often times in the grandversion of this instrument, the jacks and blocks inside the key bed cavity arein the way.

Here is aphoto album of the way I set up to string the Heintzman & Co grand piano. Pleasebegin at photo #105.

Stringing the Plate

Grand Piano Restoration: Cabinet Finishes

2011-09-08T12:42:00.001-07:00

In years pastI used to do a variety of finishes that were popular; varnish, shellac, linseedoil French polish, or Danish oil finishes, bees wax and other finishing waxes,nitro-cellulose lacquer and catalyzed lacquer.

Some ofthese finishes, while popular during certain periods of history, are not verydurable; the oil and wax finishes in particular leave the grain open aconsiderable amount, and this allows contaminants into the wood damaging the veneersand the look of the cabinet. Shellac under certain conditions can be delicatealso, especially if applied incorrectly.

Frenchpolishing takes considerable time, which makes this one a considerably moreexpensive proposition; done only on request by the piano owner.

One type offinishing not tried here is the polyester finishes for pianos. Most of thepianos I work on here are vintage or period pieces, and are not served wellwith a modern finish such as this one. For the most part, this type of finishbecame popular in the late 70’s and early 80’s. While it is quite durablepolyester finishes are usually high gloss. Along with the high gloss is thefact that black has become quite a popular colour for pianos. The result isafter a few years the high gloss finish develops many small scratches, wearlines, and fingerprints which are magnified by the black colour. This gives thefinish and old and tired look.

For cost effectivenessto both the owner and the restorer, lacquer is the best for finishing. Over theyears I have tried several types of lacquer, and have come to the conclusionthat nitrocellulose is best.

Nitrocellulosewas first introduced to the market in production furniture around 1900, and bythe 1930’s most of the pianos and furniture manufactured was being finishedwith this product.

With theinclusion of vinyl polymers and catalysts found in lacquers today, one of the characteristicsof catalyzed lacquer products when dry, is that they become quite brittle andchip easily, requiring touch-up. As pianos have lots of edges, using this typeof furniture grade lacquer is not good. These types of lacquers cannot betouched up or sprayed over top with good results once the catalyst has set formore than 30 days.

With nitrocellulose,one can touch up or spray a new coat or re-start the lacquering process at anytime in the life of the finish. The nitrocellulose with 35% sheen I find to bethe best one for vintage projects; 35% sheen gives you a little shine andassists in hiding permanent un- repairable damage to the casework. I have used lacquer with less sheen, down to10% at times for certain jobs, with good results.

A sheen of35% or less shows the beauty of the wood instead of the shine of the finish.

When usinghigh gloss finishes, every little bump and divot in the cabinet will show. Withvintage instruments this is not the desired result.

Grand Piano Restoration: Colouring, and Tinting

2011-08-29T17:13:00.000-07:00

When refinishing a piano, the request is usually made because the clear coat on top has deteriorated to the point where it requires a new surface. The outside is scratched in many places, or perhaps the outside coats have the appearance of snakeskin, or alligator skin, with the small multiple cracks, or crazing, as it is commonly referred to.

Along with this expected deterioration is the wear on what is called the “colour barrier.” This is the colour that the wood was stained with and forms a type of barrier to hide or change the original colour of the wood.

Any cabinet piece that is considered a “high traffic” area of the piano, which is usually the area where the players sit and operate the instrument, the colour eventually gets worn away, allowing the wood to show itself without colour stain, or finish.

Places such as the fallboard edges, music desk edges, keyboard end blocks, cheek block edges, around the keyboard and pedal set are the most common places to find this type of wear.

So then, along with the request for an improvement to the finish which is clear coat, one must determine what the original colours were, if the finishing request is a return to original colour.

There are specific places on the piano that one can discover the original colours; inside on the cheek past the keyboard end blocks, in the cabinet of an upright, often times the back of the fallboard does not receive any sunlight and a good place to find original colouring; underneath the grand piano on the rail just above the legs attachment; this rail runs underneath the piano and is often a place where you can discover original colour.

Colour stains are straight forward; choose the colour you want, either in oil stain, alcohol stain, or water stains; these are all available today and serve different purposes when refinishing. I choose to use oil based stains that can be wiped or sprayed on. The reason I choose these types of stain is because most of the pianos I refinish here are fairly old; the oil provides the old veneer with a bit of welcome moisture and also raises the grain lines.

This is beneficial to the finished product. With some oil based colours, it is best to let the oil evaporate off for a couple of days as the lacquer finishes are alcohol based and these two products reject each other.

Water based stains, which were popular at the turn of the last century, are now making a comeback into the marketplace due to environmental concerns. Water based stains are used much the same as oil based stains.

I find that alcohol stains are NGR stain; non grain raising stains tend to give the appearance of being painted, as alcohol stains are very strong in their pigments and do not allow the natural inconsistencies of the wood to show through.

NGR stains are primarily used for tinting problem areas of wood and can be mixed into the sprayed finish to colour match problem areas that have colour damage as a result of sunlight UV rays or other types of colour damage to the patina of the wood.

With tinting, one must have knowledge of the colour wheel, primary and secondary colours, a full understanding of tint, tone, and shade, along with how colours compliment or split compliment. In other words one must be able to “see colour.”

Without the ability to see colour, one must then attend a finishing supply shop and have the colour matched or purchase an already mixed colour. For tinting, these shops can tint the finish to what you need or give you a recipe to mix with your own colours you have purchased previously.

Here is a photo album of a piano that came in for refinishing. This instrument was completed sometime back, and while it is not the Heintzman presently under construction in the shop, this piano is a good example of the colouring and tinting processes.

Aside from the damage done to the instrument, I discovered that this one had been refinished improperly and also had long term light exposure, so this is a good photo album to view about refinishing pianos. It demonstrates some of the problems you have to solve to get the instrument looking good once again.

Underneath each photo I have written some text about how some of the problems are overcome.

BroadwoodGrand

Piano Cabinet Repairs to a Difficult Corner

2011-08-22T15:22:00.000-07:00

Here is another common piano cabinet repair that is difficult to conquer. Often times this repair is done several times over the life of the piano.

The repair I am referring to is the music desk on the small console upright piano built in the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s with the stand alone music desk.

Usually this type of design has the small brass eyelets at each end and there is a small gauge wood screw that travels through the eyelet and locates into the side thickness of the music desk between the veneer layers.

What happens during hard use or neglect is that the music desk is over-extended to the front, or too many books are loaded onto the frame, causing the screw to break away the edge of the frame. As mentioned previously, this can be a problematic repair, as this is a design flaw, or weakness in the design.

Here is a photo set of the repairs done using the car body filler, colour, and finish. Go forward slowly in this photo set as there are two videos that will take several seconds to load properly.

BondoFillerPrepAndColourRepairsToACorner

There are, of course, other music desk designs that give the same problems; one of the more common ones is the repair shown to the music desk of the Heintzman grand piano presently under reconstruction in the shop.

Another problematic music desk that comes to mind is the music desk that is a small strip of wood attached to the fall board and flips up against the fall board when closing. Usually this type is also found on upright pianos.

Grand Piano Restoration: Cabinet Repairs

2011-08-12T08:37:00.000-07:00

In a previous posting I showed some of the cabinet damage that had to be repaired; there was the big chip out of one of the round legs, the poorly repaired music desk, the back of the fallboard where the lock inserts, and the broken end on the side of the bench.

One of the things I like about using auto body filler is that the product dries in 30 minutes and will accept any colour. This was one of the problems with using the old plastic wood; once any colour was added over top the plastic wood went really dark.

I understand now that there are epoxy style wood fillers with colours, but I have not had a chance to try them out yet so I could not make any recommendations on those products as of yet.

Here are some photos of the repairs done to the broken leg, the music desk, and the bench side. Please start at photo # 91 below at the link provided.

Cabinet Repairs

Latex Paint Removal from Old Lacquer Finish

2011-08-05T14:30:00.000-07:00

This is a good posting for any technician who works in the institutional systems; schools, churches, hospitals etc.

The staff members in these buildings move the pianos around from room to room as per the requirements of use.

Many times the piano is bumped against the wall or rubbed on the door frame of the building. The result being paint left on the old surface of the piano.

Please note:

This photo album was made some time back with an older camera. There are two short videos within this photo album that will take a few seconds to load. If there are any problems with viewing, please let me know through direct email or through the comments section here at the bottom of each posting.

Here is a solution to remove latex paint from an old lacquer surface.

LatexPaintRemoval

THIS IS IMPORTANT:

The Varsol used here in this presentation I have only tried on old lacquer. With any removal product it is always best to test the product on a piece of the piano that does not show in case the product also removes the finish and colour. For example, I would not recommend using Varsol on old varnish as the varnish will melt causing further problems.

Will it work on old Shellac? Possibly it might; try applying some on the side of the check that does not show beyond the fall board to see if the finish melts. If the finish does indeed melt then stop and find another product that is not so invasive.

Grand Piano Restoration: Cabinet Repair Supplies

2011-08-05T13:57:00.000-07:00

With any refinishing of wood work there are always surprises lurking underneath the darker colours; usually in the form of damage, previously repaired damage, or poorly repaired damage that must be dealt with.

I use Mohawk Finishing Supplies and their products for the most part; Mohawk has everything I need to repair and finish a piano along with years of experience in the products and the use of them.

The owner of the Mohawk franchise here in Vancouver, has regular presentations and workshops one can attend here to learn the proper use and applications of their products.

Of course these products can be purchased from any of the furniture refinishing supply houses.

Here is a photo album of some of the most common repairs supplies required to make the piano look like new once again.

PianoCabinetRepairSupplies

Grand Piano Restoration: Finish Removal

2011-08-05T13:47:00.000-07:00

One can purchase the consumer products from the hardware store to complete small refinishing jobs. However, because of safety regulations, these products have a low concentration of active ingredient to remove the old finish; using them is time- consuming with variable results.

Stripping woodwork of the old furniture finish is to be done quickly. When refinishing a piano, there is more than 40 square feet of material that has to be refinished; some of the boards have both sides with finish on them. It is best then, to purchase the finish remover with the highest concentration of Dichloromethane. This product will move into the outer coats of finish and rip them up quickly.

Use a stripping agent that is a gelled stripper instead of a liquid. Also make sure that the stripper used is water soluble. This allows one to wash the boards down with water to neutralize and remove the stripper along with any excess of old finish. The water will also open up the grain and coarse steel wool or those green scrubby pads can be used to remove the tough bits.

In addition, for safety concerns, is the fact that one has a hose nearby in case of accidental contamination to the eyes, hands, or other areas of the body, or an accidental spill of the chemicals.

Remember to stay away from the chemicals while they work. Dichloromethane is a known carcinogen so one does not want to stand around breathing the fumes continuously. Wipe the stripper on with a brush and leave the boards for a minimum 10 minutes, then using the hose, wash the stripper off. I use the end of my shop driveway for washing the board down as the hard surface allows the water to wash away and leaves the old finish that I can scoop up and place in the garbage.

I do the majority of my stripping outside, so there is plenty of fresh air available. Use a breathing mask, gloves, and eye protection for this task.

Here are some photos of the boards with the finish removed, some of the previous damage found underneath, and samples of the different woods used to make the cabinet in a piano. The different woods used have varying base colours and grains; this is why one must learn the art of colour tinting and the tinting of finish coats in order to make all of the wood the same colour. Please begin at photo # 84 in the link provided below.

Finish Removal

Grand Piano Restoration: Lacquer Curing

2011-08-02T15:35:00.001-07:00

After the tuning pin holes have been re-sized the restoration project in this area will be dormant for about two weeks.

When lacquer is sprayed it must be given time to “cure” properly. The reasons for this are two-fold but both reasons are connected to one another:

One:

Spraying furniture finish through a spray gun requires the mixture to have the consistency of water. This means that the mixture has a high concentration of solvent to allow the proper flow through the spray equipment. After spraying, the product must be allowed to “gas-off” which means that the solvent evaporates out of the finished product.

Two:

While the gas-off process is on-going, the lacquer applied to the surface shrinks because of the solvent loss; at the same time, the catalyst in the lacquer hardens and stiffens the lacquer to its characteristic hard shell, or tortoise shell. The following day after spraying, the lacquer feels hard to the touch, this is only the outside surface to a certain extent; the lacquer underneath is still swimming.

Because of this I am unable to tape off sections of the plate in order to re-string. The lacquer is not fully cured; when attempting to remove the tape after stringing, often times this will rip off the plate gilding, causing problems.

Here are some shots of the way the frame is looking today. All ready for string in 14 days. Please begin at photo #77

here

Waiting for this process to complete allows us to move over and continue on with another area of the project; we will begin the refinishing process of the cabinet this week.

Grand Piano Restoration: Sounding Board Finish & Plate Gilding.

2011-07-26T13:50:00.000-07:00

Instruments located and used in an education facility tend to get quite dirty; it is impossible for the laymen that use the equipment to have the proper tools for cleaning underneath the strings. The result is that the sounding board area underneath the strings has several layers of dust. Dust and dirt attract and hold moisture, which in turn causes deterioration of the finished surface of the sounding board.

The iron plate must be lifted out for cleaning and refinishing of the sounding board, along with replacement of the sounding board decal.

Often times the colour of the sounding board has deteriorated and the wood looks somewhat lifeless. To brighten up the look and make the wood look like new, one has to have knowledge of the colour spectrum, and which colour stains to add to the clear coat lacquer.

Once the finish on the sounding board is complete I place the plate directly over top of where it locates inside the casework. This way I can gild the plate with gold powder, and then drop the plate right into position.

The gilding powder comes from Belgium, and is mixed in with clear lacquer to create the metallic flake gold finish. Modern equipment allows us now to shoot the gold powder through a spray gun eliminating the need to apply the gilding powder in the old way. I use the gilding powder and create my own mix rather than purchase the aerosol cans already mixed up. This allows me to add colour tint to the mix so that I am able to match the original gilding colour, as the gold colour is varied at times.

Of course there are possible sounding board repairs at times, which must be completed previous to doing any finishing. With the sounding board on the Heintzman there are no repairs and the board shows measurable crown and downbearing.

Also there is the prep to the iron plate; cleaning sanding and filling any chips or gaps.

Below at the link provided are series of photos on how I do the sounding board refinish and the plate re-gilding.

SoundBoard Finish and Plate Gilding

Grand Piano Restoration: Action & Keyboard

2011-07-20T13:08:00.001-07:00

Remember to take some of the general measurements of the action and keyboard. Most important are the original measurements within the action and keyboard geometry and the tolerances for how it plays at the moment with all of the worn parts; not too important to be concerned about the string line as the plate will be raised for re-gilding.

Because this action has a partial hammer set replacement there will be difficulty in obtaining original geometry for the extreme treble areas.

Lots of the usual repairs required here; all keyboard under felts, a full set of key bushings top and bottom, back check leather replacements, whippen heel, drop screw and let-off replacements, along with hammer shanks, flanges and hammers.

Please begin at photo # 72
Action Keyboard dismantle

Now that the entire instrument has been dismantled, there are several stations to work at, the action and keyboard restoration, the cabinet and woodworking, then the fixed structure of the instrument, the plate, sounding board, bridges and pin block. This prevents a work stoppage in case of machinery breakdown or lack of proper parts; one can switch to another area to continue working.

Grand Piano Restoration; Understring Felt and Bearing Bars

2011-07-15T16:42:00.000-07:00

Following string removal in years past, time would be spent marking, measuring, and recording the distances between the bearing bars and the hitch pins. As the plate is being re-gilded, all of the existing marks and measurements for bearing bar placement, strings sizes, manufacturer decals, and any other plate markings will disappear.

These days a digital camera is used to record a photograph of each bearing bar and its distances from the corresponding hitch pins. Then following gilding, the bars are replaced in the exact position as previous.

The under string felt is removed and stored for matching up to new cloths at a later date previous to stringing.

Please start at photo # 52

Bearing Points

Grand Piano Restoration: Letting the Plate Down

2011-07-10T09:39:00.000-07:00

Most of the instruments that come to the shop for restorative work have been up to pitch for a long period of time. The entire piano framework has been under tremendous strain for many years; decades in fact.

When letting the tension off the plate, this must be done safely as the sudden release of pressure could cause an unbalance of the plate or other structural components of the instrument. Very much like unbolting a car tire the weight or pressure must come off evenly distributed. With almost 20 tons of pressure on the framework one cannot tell if major structural components have deteriorated to the point of collapse and are being held in place only by the tension applied.

Over the years I have used this procedure successfully time and time again. It is the safest way I have found to let down the tension from the piano. This task is best completed using a 4ths and 5ths temperament.

First take middle C and tune down so that middle C becomes the same as the B below. Then tuning in octaves tune all of the C’s to that pitch or tune all of the C’s to the B below. The result is that middle C is now a full tone lower than originally.

Next tune the F below Middle C to the E below F. Then follow the same procedure used for C. Next, tune all of the F’s by octaves or tune the F’s to the E below. After F, then the G below middle C down to beat less, then the D above middle C down to beat less, then A below and so on. Work your way around the temperament until you have completed the temperament. Each time you lower a key in pitch do all of the same keys of the keyboard. It is not important to fine tune as you go. Just rough in the keys and make them close to the pitch you are looking for.

The end result will be that the entire piano will now be a full tone lower that A440 which means that you have released approximately 4 tons of weight off the iron frame.

Now return to middle C and begin again by lowering the pitch to the B below. Work your way around the temperament using this new pitch. At completion of this second step the piano will now be two full tones lower than A440.

From here you can take a T-handle or a stringing hammer and turn the tuning pins one half turn so the remaining tension is released. This process once learned can be completed in about an hour.

Some photos of the process; please begin at photo # 47

String Removal Process

Grand Piano Restoration: Dismantle, Label, and Store

2011-07-07T16:15:00.000-07:00

The piano will be apart for a period of time. It will be impossible to remember the way things came apart exactly and this is why it is so important to take a lot of notes, and label things as to where they are located and how they came apart.

Take notes or photographs of all procedures.

The piano arrived in the usual way; brought into the shop and set up on its legs by the movers. I place my grand’s on a shop truck that was built out of heavy timber. This sets them up high off the floor so I can work on the insides without bending over all day long.

Here are some early photos of the cabinet dismantle. Please start at photo number 35.

Cabinet dismantle

Grand Piano Restoration

2011-07-01T10:43:00.001-07:00

Recently I was contacted by one of the educational facilities here in Vancouver with a request to restore the grand piano located in the auditorium. After inspection to determine if this instrument was a worthy project, the administration accepted my restoration proposal.

Over the next two months this instrument will be dismantled completely, then re-assembled with the new parts and components required to complete the project.

Built in 1911 this is a 6 ft. (1.8) meter grand in original condition. While the structural components of this piano are in relatively good shape, the cabinet and all of the moving parts that make up the action/ keyboard and the string work are all badly worn.

There will be postings to this blog several times a week with new photos of the repairs and techniques performed. Gradually over the next 10 weeks this project will be completed.

As school is now out for the summer break we will begin when the movers bring the instrument to the shop. Most likely this will be in the next couple of days.

Here is the photo set of the piano in the condition that it was found. Lots of repairs to do!

Heintzman Co39195#

A Tuner’s Life 4 Special Projects

2011-06-30T17:54:00.002-07:00

Well, it is not always about pianos here. Sometimes I get interesting requests to manufacture or assist with making an unusual project.

A while back a young fellow contacted me a while back seeking assistance with his project of building a shadow box. The box was to be built with side rails to hang earrings on, but he also wanted to have a music box component to this item.

I thought this would be an interesting and fun project to do, so I kept a record of the progress to completion.

The photos are mostly screen shots of a design program. Then there are photos of the coloring and finish. At the end there is a small video sample of the music that this unit will play.

One more thing; my shop cat was fascinated by this project and loved the music box when it played. If you watch closely on the left side of the video she hears the music from the garden and comes into the shop to sit and watch the roller in the music box go around. You can see her coming through the doorway….

Music Box