Steinway strike line

[Delwin D Fandrich]

----- Original Message -----
From: "John Delacour" <JD@Pianomaker.co.uk>
To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: December 01, 2001 12:53 PM
Subject: Re: Steinway strike line


>
> What you say of the patterns seems likely, but that reminds me of a
> burning question I've meant to ask for ages:  does anyone know in
> what year Steinway lost all the patterns in a fire and had to make
> new?  This would have been a long while ago and probably in Hamburg
> but not necessarily in time of war.  Landmarks in piano history like
> this are quite significant, like the years Röslau gobbled up Pöhlmann
> and Giese, burped loudly, gave a two-fingered salute and started
> using plough steel to make piano wire.  But several books could be
> written of the factory fires.
>
> JD
> -----------------------

I've heard the story about the fire as well, but I don't know when--or even
if--it happened. Also, much is blamed on the change from (NY) Steinway's own
foundry to farming out their plate casting after WWII. I don't think they
ever did get their own foundry running again after that. And I'm likely to
believe just about any horror story they want to tell me about dealing with
the remaining U.S. plate foundry. During the entire time we were building
the upright we never did get plates made to the design.

This piano was designed on computer and the mylar prints didn't come along
until the design was completely finished. The foundry pattern shop worked to
the mylar prints, not the x,y coordinates. Once the initial prototype plates
were cast they were sent to another plant (same company) for drilling and
machining. The drilling was done by computer controlled drills working to
the x,y coordinates I furnished directly from the CAD drawings. During the
initial drilling I received a phone call informing me that they were going
to have to move my hitchpin drilling locations--seems they were drilling
into air. At that point it seemed a good idea to go look at what was
happening. Turns out they had already shifted the agraffe holes because they
didn't line up with where the pattern shop had placed the agraffe riser and
the hitchpin riser was so far away from where the prints showed it should be
that, indeed, the drill was going into air. All the plates ended up being
shipped back at the foundry to be melted down and poured again after the
pattern was 'fixed.' But the castings never were right.

I trust things are going a bit better with Steinway's plates now that they
own the foundry.

Del