Mid way through the initial regulation of Blüthner No.83988. Here I’m doing a rough adjustment of the “setoff”, on the work bench.

The hammer seen here with flange and “Abstract” fitted.

Hammers fitted. Here, I’m making new bushes to hold the “Abstracts” in place.

Fitting the new hammers to Blüthner No.83988. The hammers are made by a company called “Abel”. The wool used for the felt is best quality Marino, and the wood in these hammers is Hornbeam.

Hammer No.1 prepared to be fitted to Blüthner No.83988. The hammer has been “spliced”, which is the name given to the process of cutting a chamfer into two of the edges of the bass hammers. The reason for this will become clear in later pictures…

Work on the keyboard continues. Many of the leads have corroded and swollen, resulting in a lot of the keys splitting. The old leads will be removed, the holes plugged and glued with wood cut from old piano keys.

Another problem with the key leads swelling is that they start rubbing the adjacent keys – which causes all sorts of problems with keys sticking, and action noises.

Now in the showroom…

Part of the Blüthner “Patent” action – known as an “Abstract”. Seen here having new cushions fitted.