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

Re-fitting the keys to the keyframe. It’s very important to make sure the keys move properly, so each bushing will be eased or tightened to ensure frictionless movement, but without any slack. It’s a fine balance…!

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…

First stage of bleaching the ivory key tops. The keys go through another round of bleaching before being fine sanded and buffed to finish.