Today we have to make some sharps and glue them on. Then we will do some preliminary key spacing. Here we go.
Our sharps ( equivalent to the black keys on a piano ) will be glued to the front of each sharp key. The sharps are 2 ¾” long and 7/16” high. We will need 21 of them for this keyboard. We start by preparing our poplar stock by planing it to 7/16” thickness. The front of each sharp angles backwards at 10 degrees so we’ll tilt the tablesaw blade to 10 degrees and cut the sharp blank 2 ¾” wide. The first photo shows the blank after this cut.
The sides of the sharps also are angled 10 degrees. Leaving the blade set at 10 degrees we turn the sharp blank upside down and, using the miter gauge to hold the stock square to the blade, cut one side of a sharp.
Then we flip the blank right side up and figure out where to make the second cut so as to end up with a sharp that is ½” wide on its bottom surface. Holding the key in this position on the cut-off jig, (I wasn't comfortable with using the miter gauge as in the previous photo so I switched to my cut-off jig) we’ll use a small block of wood against the fence to register this cut and make it repeatable. The next photo shows this.
Using a sacrificial piece of stock behind the sharp blank to avoid tearout we’ll cut the second side of a sharp.
We continue with this until we have cut 21 sharps plus a couple of extras just in case. The following photo shows the completed batch of sharps.
Now we’ll turn our attention to the keys that will have sharps glued to their top surfaces. We have to angle the bottom-front of each sharp key about 45 degrees. This is mostly for cosmetic reasons – we don’t want to see the actual key when we look at the keyboard from the front. The angled cut accomplishes this. Another reason for this cut is weight reduction. The next photo shows a sharp key front being angled at the disk sander.
The next photo shows an un-angled key and an angled key.
Now it’s time to glue the sharps onto their keysticks. We remove all of the natural keys from the keyframe leaving only the keysticks that will have a sharp glued to them. We put a piece of wood across the rear of the keyboard and weigh it down with a weight so that the keys cannot move up or down. Back in Part 1 of this project we drew the keyboard on the keyboard blank. At that time, a line was drawn on each key to show where the rear of the sharps should go. Now we’ll use that line to position our sharps. We take a straightedge and clamp it right on this line. We will glue on our sharps so that their rear surfaces touch the straighedge thereby assuring that they will be even and in the proper position on the keys. The next photo shows this setup.
Now we can start gluing the sharps to their keysticks. We place a VERY LIGHT coat of yellow glue on the key and the bottom of a sharp. We place the sharp onto the key and use a rub-joint to glue them together. No clamps are required. In the next photo the top 2 sharps have been glued to their keysticks.
After gluing all of the remaining sharps we replace the natural keys onto the keyframe. We now must roughly space the keys so that the gaps between the natural keys are the same and the sharps are centered between their neighboring natural keys. There are internal stresses in the wood that sometimes causes wood to warp slightly after it’s cut. That’s exactly what happens when you cut a keyboard blank into individual keys. Take a look at the space between the “D” and “E” keys in the next photo.
Now take a look at the same two keys after the spacing has been adjusted.
How is this done? There are 2 ways. Since the “D” key had to be moved to the right we could try bending the rear pin a little to the left. If you move the rear of the key to the left it will cause the front of the key to move to the right. This solution works ...... to a point.
If the move necessary is VERY slight it will work fine. If the move necessary is not quite so slight it won’t. Bend the rear pin a little too far and the slot in the back of the key will bind on the key and the key won’t be able to move up and down. The second method, which I prefer, is to fix the warp in the key itself. This is done by applying heat (from a heat gun) to the side of the key – bending the key in the proper direction – and holding the key (with your hands) and applying pressure in the proper direction until the key cools. This is pretty quick. It takes about 20 seconds with the heat gun and about 20 seconds of pressure while the key cools. Of course there’s a little trial and error involved. It is possible to over-correct in which case you apply heat to the opposite side and bend in the opposite direction. It might have to be done again later in the construction process if the key continues to warp but most of the time this isn’t necessary. Keep in mind that we’re only bending the key a small amount – usually around 1/64” to, at most, 1/32”. This doesn’t require a lot of heat and I’ve never found the need to wear gloves. In the next photo I’m applying heat to a key.
In the next photo I’m applying firm but gentle pressure on the key to bend it.
And finally, the next photo shows the completed keyboard.
Did I say “completed keyboard”? That’s not quite right. Actually we’re about halfway through the time necessary to really complete the keyboard. We still have to cut some raw ebony into the proper shape for the key coverings, cut and shape some bone for the covering of the sharp keys, glue the ebony and bone onto the keys, scribe decorative lines onto the ebony, shape the ebony key coverings with a razor knife and sandpaper, add a finish to the ebony and balance the keys with lead weights. All this takes at least as much time as we have already spent to this point on the keyboard. But all that will have to wait.
We’re gonna leave that work for quite a while. Next time we’ll start building the harpsichord case.
See you then,
Ernie
Part 1 - The Keyboard Part 2 -Keyboard con't. Part 3 - Keyboard con't. Part 4 - The Case (Bentside) Part 5 - Case Bottom Part 6 - Case Sides Part 7 - The Lower Braces Part 8 - Case Finished Part 9 - Building the Registers Part 10 - The Stand Part 11 - Jackrail & Moldings
Part 12 - The Music Desk Part 13 - Building the Bench
Our sharps ( equivalent to the black keys on a piano ) will be glued to the front of each sharp key. The sharps are 2 ¾” long and 7/16” high. We will need 21 of them for this keyboard. We start by preparing our poplar stock by planing it to 7/16” thickness. The front of each sharp angles backwards at 10 degrees so we’ll tilt the tablesaw blade to 10 degrees and cut the sharp blank 2 ¾” wide. The first photo shows the blank after this cut.
The sides of the sharps also are angled 10 degrees. Leaving the blade set at 10 degrees we turn the sharp blank upside down and, using the miter gauge to hold the stock square to the blade, cut one side of a sharp.
Then we flip the blank right side up and figure out where to make the second cut so as to end up with a sharp that is ½” wide on its bottom surface. Holding the key in this position on the cut-off jig, (I wasn't comfortable with using the miter gauge as in the previous photo so I switched to my cut-off jig) we’ll use a small block of wood against the fence to register this cut and make it repeatable. The next photo shows this.
Using a sacrificial piece of stock behind the sharp blank to avoid tearout we’ll cut the second side of a sharp.
We continue with this until we have cut 21 sharps plus a couple of extras just in case. The following photo shows the completed batch of sharps.
Now we’ll turn our attention to the keys that will have sharps glued to their top surfaces. We have to angle the bottom-front of each sharp key about 45 degrees. This is mostly for cosmetic reasons – we don’t want to see the actual key when we look at the keyboard from the front. The angled cut accomplishes this. Another reason for this cut is weight reduction. The next photo shows a sharp key front being angled at the disk sander.
The next photo shows an un-angled key and an angled key.
Now it’s time to glue the sharps onto their keysticks. We remove all of the natural keys from the keyframe leaving only the keysticks that will have a sharp glued to them. We put a piece of wood across the rear of the keyboard and weigh it down with a weight so that the keys cannot move up or down. Back in Part 1 of this project we drew the keyboard on the keyboard blank. At that time, a line was drawn on each key to show where the rear of the sharps should go. Now we’ll use that line to position our sharps. We take a straightedge and clamp it right on this line. We will glue on our sharps so that their rear surfaces touch the straighedge thereby assuring that they will be even and in the proper position on the keys. The next photo shows this setup.
Now we can start gluing the sharps to their keysticks. We place a VERY LIGHT coat of yellow glue on the key and the bottom of a sharp. We place the sharp onto the key and use a rub-joint to glue them together. No clamps are required. In the next photo the top 2 sharps have been glued to their keysticks.
After gluing all of the remaining sharps we replace the natural keys onto the keyframe. We now must roughly space the keys so that the gaps between the natural keys are the same and the sharps are centered between their neighboring natural keys. There are internal stresses in the wood that sometimes causes wood to warp slightly after it’s cut. That’s exactly what happens when you cut a keyboard blank into individual keys. Take a look at the space between the “D” and “E” keys in the next photo.
Now take a look at the same two keys after the spacing has been adjusted.
How is this done? There are 2 ways. Since the “D” key had to be moved to the right we could try bending the rear pin a little to the left. If you move the rear of the key to the left it will cause the front of the key to move to the right. This solution works ...... to a point.
If the move necessary is VERY slight it will work fine. If the move necessary is not quite so slight it won’t. Bend the rear pin a little too far and the slot in the back of the key will bind on the key and the key won’t be able to move up and down. The second method, which I prefer, is to fix the warp in the key itself. This is done by applying heat (from a heat gun) to the side of the key – bending the key in the proper direction – and holding the key (with your hands) and applying pressure in the proper direction until the key cools. This is pretty quick. It takes about 20 seconds with the heat gun and about 20 seconds of pressure while the key cools. Of course there’s a little trial and error involved. It is possible to over-correct in which case you apply heat to the opposite side and bend in the opposite direction. It might have to be done again later in the construction process if the key continues to warp but most of the time this isn’t necessary. Keep in mind that we’re only bending the key a small amount – usually around 1/64” to, at most, 1/32”. This doesn’t require a lot of heat and I’ve never found the need to wear gloves. In the next photo I’m applying heat to a key.
In the next photo I’m applying firm but gentle pressure on the key to bend it.
And finally, the next photo shows the completed keyboard.
Did I say “completed keyboard”? That’s not quite right. Actually we’re about halfway through the time necessary to really complete the keyboard. We still have to cut some raw ebony into the proper shape for the key coverings, cut and shape some bone for the covering of the sharp keys, glue the ebony and bone onto the keys, scribe decorative lines onto the ebony, shape the ebony key coverings with a razor knife and sandpaper, add a finish to the ebony and balance the keys with lead weights. All this takes at least as much time as we have already spent to this point on the keyboard. But all that will have to wait.
We’re gonna leave that work for quite a while. Next time we’ll start building the harpsichord case.
See you then,
Ernie
Part 1 - The Keyboard Part 2 -Keyboard con't. Part 3 - Keyboard con't. Part 4 - The Case (Bentside) Part 5 - Case Bottom Part 6 - Case Sides Part 7 - The Lower Braces Part 8 - Case Finished Part 9 - Building the Registers Part 10 - The Stand Part 11 - Jackrail & Moldings
Part 12 - The Music Desk Part 13 - Building the Bench
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