Long-time-no-blog!

Hi all! (or should I say, hi both?)

It has been an absolute age since I last blogged about my piano. Why is that? Well, to be honest there hasn't been a lot going on with it at the moment. I've sort of come to an impasse.

As you know, the action has had a lovely overhaul by yours truly. The hammers are lovely and new and shiny the black keys are lovely and black and the white keys are lovely and nearly white and all the felt is enjoying being felt... I'm jealous of an inanimate object!

The reason for the huge pause in the work is that I'm now at the stage of rebuilding rather than dismantling. This is where the precision comes into its own. You've got to be accurate to within .2 of an atom or something so my usual mode of measuring (oh, that's near enough...ish) won't be sufficient.

My mate, Steve is making the pin block for me. That's a very, very difficult and precision job. I've told him that there's no room whatsoever for error and it has to be bang on (which is what no room for error means really!). He's very skilled indeed and to be honest, I'd not trust anyone other than him to do it. He's an exceptional craftsman. The pinblock will be made of several laminates of beech, all of which will be cross grained. That means, one laminate going in one direction, the next going in a different direction and the next another etc. That way it builds up a tremendous amount of strength which will create a lot of tuning stability. Once that has been made we'll be able to fit it to the frame and drill the holes for the tuning pins. Of course, the holes have to be drilled at a 7 degree angle to ensure that there's a bit of tension away from the strings rather than having them going straight down into the block and being pulled and bent by the huge forces of tension.

I've been looking at the casework on the piano and thinking about how to restore that. The wood is ok but not fantastic. This is where I get into the realms of "Are you bloody mad?" Well, actually, yes as it happens. I really think I might re-veneer the entire instrument. I know it'll be expensive, labour intensive, expensive, difficult to do, expensive and not to mention dear. However, if I'm doing it for myself I might as well do it exactly how I want it. I'm not anticipating doing it on another concert grand piano I may end up with in the future as I'm not planning on having another one... or am I? (Don't tell Martin!) I really fancy a flame mahogany butterfly pattern on the lid but I'd guess the veneer for the entire instrument will cost me £500 or so which is money I'd not included in the budget. However, as the expenditure is a drip-feed you don't really notice amounts going out as you're just spending £60 here, £80 there etc.

I've really got to learn the best way to finish the casework anyway. I really want it to be a bit of a showpiece if I can. The last thing I want is ill fitted veneer with a rubbish finish. I'd love a deep mahogany colour with a beautiful high-gloss. Mind you, the trouble with high-gloss pianos is that you spend most of your time cleaning them. They're magnets for dust. My other piano is a black high-gloss grand and you spend half of your time wiping it down with a damp cloth and then buffing it back up again. It's amazing how greasy they get if you're not careful too.