Hi all,
Recently there was a thread (which I can't find now) about your most challenging project. Here's mine.
When I was still living in NY one of my clients called with the most unusual commission I ever had. It seems his wife's grandfather was a case builder for the Steinway piano company about 90 years ago. In his spare time he built three miniature grand piano cases into which he installed a rather large (by today's standards) radio. He gave each of his three granddaughters one of these beautiful creations. What a master craftsman this man was!
My client, a professional musician and music director for Sesame Street, loved this radio piano but always wished he could actually play it. So he asked if it were possible to convert it into a working harpsichord. And that's how I got involved in this most interesting, and stress filled project. I thought some of you may be interested in how this was done. I sorted through over 200 photos of the conversion and picked eleven to post. Please forgive the length of this post but without all eleven photos the process wouldn't make any sense - it still may not.
Here is a photo of the case in the beginning of the conversion. The radio and some structural parts have already been removed.
Next, the front stretcher is replaced with a new one made of walnut.
Next, the new pinblock is glued to the case sides and new front stretcher.
Next, the curved soundboard liners are laminated using the actual case as a form. The liners are laminated using four pieces of 1/8" thick poplar. Laminating is the case was much easier than making a rather complicated form.
On the workbench are most of the new parts that were fabricated for the job (soundboard blank, pinblock, soundboard liners, keyboard, and a few other misc. pieces.
In the next photo, the pinblock, registers, case braces, and liners have been installed into the case.
Next, the plan that I drew is placed on top of the soundboard and the position of the bridge, bridge pins, and hitchpins are transfered to the soundboard with an awl.
Next, the soundboard has been shaped to fit into the case. This is the underside of the soundboard showing the 4' hitchpin rail, the cut-off bar, and the ribs which have been glued to the board.
Now, the moment of truth. The soundboard, which Sandy has already decorated, is glued into the case. At the front of the board clamps are used. Around the perimeter, small nails are used as clamps. These nails are removed after the glue dries.
Next the instrument is strung and the action is installed and regulated. The next photo shows the finished instrument. In the background is a full sized harpsichord to give you an idea of the scale of the conversion.
And finally, the final photo.
That about it. This conversion was done about 10 years ago and is still playing just fine. I kept the plans just in case the other two radio-pianos come my way.
Ernie
Recently there was a thread (which I can't find now) about your most challenging project. Here's mine.
When I was still living in NY one of my clients called with the most unusual commission I ever had. It seems his wife's grandfather was a case builder for the Steinway piano company about 90 years ago. In his spare time he built three miniature grand piano cases into which he installed a rather large (by today's standards) radio. He gave each of his three granddaughters one of these beautiful creations. What a master craftsman this man was!
My client, a professional musician and music director for Sesame Street, loved this radio piano but always wished he could actually play it. So he asked if it were possible to convert it into a working harpsichord. And that's how I got involved in this most interesting, and stress filled project. I thought some of you may be interested in how this was done. I sorted through over 200 photos of the conversion and picked eleven to post. Please forgive the length of this post but without all eleven photos the process wouldn't make any sense - it still may not.
Here is a photo of the case in the beginning of the conversion. The radio and some structural parts have already been removed.
Next, the front stretcher is replaced with a new one made of walnut.
Next, the new pinblock is glued to the case sides and new front stretcher.
Next, the curved soundboard liners are laminated using the actual case as a form. The liners are laminated using four pieces of 1/8" thick poplar. Laminating is the case was much easier than making a rather complicated form.
On the workbench are most of the new parts that were fabricated for the job (soundboard blank, pinblock, soundboard liners, keyboard, and a few other misc. pieces.
In the next photo, the pinblock, registers, case braces, and liners have been installed into the case.
Next, the plan that I drew is placed on top of the soundboard and the position of the bridge, bridge pins, and hitchpins are transfered to the soundboard with an awl.
Next, the soundboard has been shaped to fit into the case. This is the underside of the soundboard showing the 4' hitchpin rail, the cut-off bar, and the ribs which have been glued to the board.
Now, the moment of truth. The soundboard, which Sandy has already decorated, is glued into the case. At the front of the board clamps are used. Around the perimeter, small nails are used as clamps. These nails are removed after the glue dries.
Next the instrument is strung and the action is installed and regulated. The next photo shows the finished instrument. In the background is a full sized harpsichord to give you an idea of the scale of the conversion.
And finally, the final photo.
That about it. This conversion was done about 10 years ago and is still playing just fine. I kept the plans just in case the other two radio-pianos come my way.
Ernie
