Grand Piano Pin Block Support

When driving the tuning pins into a grand piano, the pin block has to be supported from the underside.  The reason for this is the way in which the pin block is manufactured. Generally speaking, the pin blocks in pianos are constructed of multiple layers of wood laminated together.  In modern construction, most pin blocks are manufactured of up to 18-20 layers laminated together with phenolic resins.  In early construction, pin blocks were 3 layers of much thicker materials over a maple plank.

In either case, while stringing procedures are completed, or when the tuning pins must be driven deeper into the pin block for increased torque ratings, the block must be supported from the underside. Without support, the bottom layers of the pin block laminations will be forced apart by the tuning pin being driven into the block from the top. Once this de-lamination occurs, the repair is to replace the pin block, which is a time consuming and costly mistake.

Below is a link for some photos of the traditional way to jack and support a pin block. Of course there are other ways to accomplish this task without the specialty machinist’s jacks; by using a series of wedge planks would be one example.

When jack supporting the pin block this puts excessive pressure on the key bed; sometimes with vintage instruments one does not know how strong the key bed is. In instruments that are older, it is also a good idea at times to support the key bed from underneath the piano to the floor. This can be done with short lumber and a small hydraulic jack.

Below is a link to a  series of photos showing the tools and supplies required for supporting the grand piano pin block.

Pin Block Support

Piano Action Repairs: Hammer Butt Shoulder Buckskin Replacement

This is one of the common repairs for an upright piano action. As the hammer head, stem, and butt assembly returns after striking the strings, the hammer butt is caught by the back check attached to the whippen assembly. The back check contacts a small stem and buckskin covered wooden plate attached to the rear of the hammer butt. 

 This creates a contact point that has considerable wear; in a piano action where the regulation is neglected, or left out of proper mechanical adjustment, the wear on this point is considerable over time. Once this small piece of buckskin is worn through the wear begins on the original, obsolete wooden parts. 

Obsolete piano action parts are difficult to obtain. At one time there were so many different piano manufacturers, it is impossible for the  piano parts makers to supply  parts with the correct geometric measurements for every make and model of piano produced. The parts suppliers have decided to make generic fit parts. These parts come close to the original and will work properly; sometimes with geometric adjustments to the parts or the action itself.

There is of course, the usual wear that happens with regular use of the piano. This is why it is so important for the older pianos to be kept in proper mechanical adjustment. This is called regulation of the piano action. When the piano action is kept is proper regulation and the felts and buckskin within the action are kept in good condition, very little damage is done to the original wooden parts.

Here is a photo album of the replacement of the hammer butt shoulder buckskin. There is text to read below each frame in the photos.

Upright Piano Action Repair

A Tuner’s Life 2

 Looking through some old files for stories this is another unique project I was involved with here in Vancouver.

Nothing to do with the sound of this piano but it was a movie stunt I helped set up.

 July 2006 Movie Scene:

 A pianist at the piano, playing in a balcony lounge setting. Two men who are in the lounge begin fighting; they eventually crash into the piano and the pianist; all of them crash through the balcony railing and go 90 ft down to the floor on top of 30 people.

Scene end.

Now doing a stunt like this is fraught with problems to overcome, not the least of which is who has the grand piano that requires disposal, and more importantly, who would like to be in the group on the main floor underneath the balcony?

There were several ideas floated to me regarding this: make a cardboard copy, this would be far too light resulting in too much sail, not falling the correct rate of speed and appearance.

Next up was a plywood copy; by the time you bent all of that wood to make the shape, still you have no parts inside to burst out all over the place.

So in the end the film accountant and producer decided to use a real grand piano…..but still they wanted to drop this one on top of 30 people.

There was only one way to accomplish this stunt. Drop the piano over the balcony but have a giant bungee cord attached so it did not destroy the theatre flooring upon impact.

 Also nobody would die either….this was good.

 The plan was to edit out the bungee cord in the production room; then edit in the crowd below…..(actually if I recall correctly I believe they took the crowd scene out….)

 With this part solved, they could now throw the instrument off the balcony and film the destruction.

Now they wanted a small black grand. I didn’t have one and there were none available second hand. So off they went to a retailer and spent 10k on a brand new Hoffman and Khune 5ft. grand.

Because of the way these instruments are built, if thrown off the balcony of that height, there would be a good chance the piano would not disintegrate because of all the bolts and screws and glue holding them together. (Think for a moment; how do I know this….. :)

After the purchase of this instrument brand new, I had to attend the special effects center here in North Vancouver to consult with the special effects foreman Denys Guillemette and set up the geometry correctly so that the instrument would come apart upon impact.

 I had to let all of the pressure off of the strings, unwind them all, undo all of the plate bolts that hold the casted metal plate in place, undo all of the action/keyboard screws .

Once this is done a particular way, the instrument will come apart upon impact with the accurate effects of having the case burst, the metal parts fracturing, the wire coming out and so on.

The film was White Noise Two; originally called White Noise The Light. This movie bears no relation to the first movie in any way; the plots are completely different. White Noise Two is about NDE (near death experience) and how some people when they come back to life can see white  light around certain people and hear the EVP. (Electronic Voice Phenomenon)

So if you are a Nathan Fillion/Katie Sackhoff fan give it a watch; pretty intense flick so if you are a sensitive or nervous person best not to watch.

Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and terror, some disturbing images, thematic material and language.

Here is the trailer from YouTube. At your own risk…..at 2:01 you get a glimpse of the piano going over the railing….. two shots actually…… it was a fun gig.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qchvg2CmLhI

A Tuner's Life 1

There are times when the work is not always about pianos but piano-related. Sometimes I get the call for unique or unusual projects.

A couple of seasons back I got a call about a photo shoot being done here. This is the type of photo shoot called “photo murals.”

History:

Although there have been experiments with photo murals since the beginning of photography, the type of work that I am referring to is called “large-scale, theory-referenced, and carefully staged photos”. This type of art was pioneered by artists around the world in the 1970s and is continued today by Vancouver artists such as Stan Douglas, Jin-me Yoon, and Rodney Graham.

So I got a call from Rodney Graham’s assistant; they required an old player piano to be used as a prop. Further they needed a technician on site for the entire day to rewind the player rolls and set the instrument for the next take of shots. These shots were taken by what is called a 14 X 11 camera, equipped with 26 strobes that went off as the shot was taken. These shots were then blown up to 16 ft. panels and were installed on a billboard of the L.A. freeway for some type of advertising.

Sixteen takes and 10 hours later we were done.

The theme is this:

There is a piano in an old saloon. Playing the piano is a cowboy. Sitting on top of the piano is another cowboy who is shooting at the feet of a preacher making him dance. The preacher is played by Rodney Graham.

Here is a link to some shots of the set and the actors involved in the shoot. Enjoy!

Photo Shoot

Humidity and the Piano Sounding Board

I was in conversation with a colleague of mine a while back; we got onto the topic of humidity, and how the changes in humidity affect the wooden structure of the piano.  An observation was made about how piano owners at times do not fully comprehend the amount of movement that happens to a piano when there are humidity changes from season to season.

 I was invited to attend his shop last summer to witness the results of performing experiments on humidity impact and how this changes the position of the sounding board and bridges.

Several jigs were set up to replicate a section of  the piano soundboard and  ribs that hold the sounding board in place. Then, over a period of time, these experiments were completed and the data recorded by local colleague Jack Houweling.

I have changed the watermark on the photos to reflect Jack's work as none of the jigs or experiments were done by myself. I assisted with picture taking and other tasks.

 

Here is the link for the photos of Jack’s experiments…..left click on any photo to enlarge and read the text included.

Humidity Impact

Also included here is a link from a technical forum about this topic.This is a direct link to the forum topic.

Forum Discussion on Humidity Impact

Transposing Pianos

These pianos were made by several piano manufacturers.  I have come across 3 companies so far that manufactured the transposing piano; the Heintzman Co. of Canada, Weser Bros. and the Sohmer Co. both of New York.

Irving Berlin, who was a self-taught pianist and played only on the black keys, had several models of this instrument to transpose the music into different keys.

There is a mechanism below the keyboard that allows the key bed to shift laterally left or right; this allows the player to play the same keys on the keyboard as previous while having the music played in a different key.

This is a rare Heintzman & Co. Transposing upright piano, which used to be produced some time back. This instrument has 98 keys and songs can be played in 10 different keys …11 in fact, including the one you are in. In 35 yrs. of service to the industry I have only ever seen two of these. Here are some photos of this model of transposing piano.

RareHeintzmanTransposingPiano

Here is a thread from Piano World Tech forum where I posted this as a topic. What ended up happening in the thread was an informal count of these instruments across Canada. So far I have come across more that 30 of these rare transposing pianos. Enjoy!

Rare Heintzman Transposing Piano

Pianos without a Pin Block2

Here is another variation on a piano constructed without a pin block. This is a Mason & Hamlin piano built in the later part of the 1800’s. This one is has the nickname screw stringer for the way in which the strings are mounted and held in place.

I have not come across a Mason & Hamlin screw stringer piano for some time. Replacing a string is not that difficult; cut it to the length of the bar that the screw goes through, take the screw out, wrap the wire around the hook, and put the screw back.

One of the main problems with a piano built in this fashion is the availability of the original parts. When the stringers break it is difficult to obtain replacement parts for these instruments.

 In reality these have become museum quality pieces. Pianos such as the Brinsmead and the Mason Hamlin show us a historical record of piano building, development, and pioneering invention by some of the makers.

Here are a few photos of this type of piano construction.  

MasonHamlinScrewStringer