The swing test!

03rd of November

Today is the perfect day to do some centre pin replacement. According to my hygrometer, the humidity level is near 50% so my work will be done in optimum conditions.

In case you wonder, this is not a slow-mo!

This hammer was not moving correctly due to the corrosion and the tightness around the centre pin. Each pin must have a specified amount of frictional resistance in order to work properly.

centre pin replacement

I removed the old centre pin, measured its diameter, reamed the bushing felts (around the pin) and selected the new pin that will define the right friction. To give you an idea, the pin selection goes up in .02mm increments which makes it significantly tighter or looser.

The hammer now swings properly (between 3 and 7 swings).

One done, eighty seven more hammers to go!

Disassembling

02nd of November

After hours of measuring, thinking and research, I finally ordered the parts needed.

It is now time to disassemble the piano!

First slowly removing the tension on the strings. There are 222 strings on the Steinway O, with an overall tension of around 20 tons. Yes 20 tons! To avoid too much stress on the iron frame and the soundboard I removed the tension step by step. First by tuning down to a semi tone flat, then a few days later another semi tone...and so on until the whole tension was removed.

Meanwhile I could take it apart...

grand piano disassembling

Planning and parts selection

23rd of October 2018

Each restoration is unique. The analysis of the piano's condition is an essential step to define what needs to be replaced and what should be kept. Then comes the research and selection of the parts needed and the planning of each step of the restoration.