Regulation…
The Blüthner Style-X is approaching the end of its first regulation. The next job will be to weigh the action to ensure an even touch weight. …
General
Blüthner Style-X hills…
Fitting “hills” to the underside of the new WNG levers (which are also known as a “whippen” or “repeat”) in the Style-X. The action is …
New hammers…
Strike hammers (guide hammers for positioning the remaining 82) for the Blüthner Style-X. They were custom made for the piano by Abel in Germany. The …
Stringing…
Today, I finished stringing the Style-X. Here you can see the second section of the piano – the brass plate held in place by many …
Carving notches…
The first job I did with my early Christmas present was to carve the notches on the Style-X bass bridge. Having done this, the bridge …
Bridge carving…
A little extravagant perhaps, but I decided to buy myself an early Christmas present – a 15mm Japanese white steel chisel. It will only ever …
Hidden treasure…
Today’s work was preparing the inside of the Style-X case for the frame to be fitted. One of the jobs was to scrape and sand …
Studs…
The Style-X studs (also known as “Agraffes”) have had their first clean in preparation for buffing and lacquering. The stud at the front has been …
Lettering…
First job today was to paint the black lettering (using enamel) on the Style-X frame. Quite a fiddly job, but satisfying! The frame is now ready …
Busy workshop…
Getting rather crowded in here! Lots of different jobs going on at the same time. My “to-do” board (on the door. Thanks to SLS for …
Bass bridge…
Bass bridge on the Style-X has now been drilled. Next job will be to apply coats of black lead (to help the strings slide over …
Key sides…
At some point in the past, someone did some work on my Style-X keyboard. Unfortunately, they changed the shape of the white keys… Seen here, …
Keyboard work…
A new job for me on the Style-X – the keys have been pretty badly abused over the years (including a cigarette burn to two …
Brinsmead desk…
This afternoon I did the final assembly work on the Brinsmead, and unwrapped the desk… I was very pleasantly surprised to find a rather splendid …
New parts…
Testing new action parts for the Style-X. I’m using little bulldog clips to simulate the weight of the hammer, and playing around with the geometry …
Brinsmead action…
Assembling the Brinsmead action. Seen here, the first of the hammers being screwed into place. Note the second flange under the hammer flange – this …
New Brinsmead hammers…
Fitting new hammers to the Brinsmead action. Very unusually, this piano has mahogany shanks – most piano makers use hornbeam for this part. I’m assuming …
Brinsmead hammers…
I don’t often see moth damage this bad on hammers – usually the felt lower down in the action bears the brunt of any moth …
Style-X soundboard finished…
Lettering and final coats of varnish applied. Next job will be the fine fitting of the frame, followed by cleaning up the treble bridge, and …