? View full size View full size View full size ? Greetings ? I thought I,d ?post the pictures of a very interesting project started last summer. Recently/mostly complete & waiting to go to another shop for action work. ?A few pictures of the 7 ft 6 inch Brinsmead & Sons?circa 1885. This the one that has the Queen Victoria's royal crest & other gorgeous marquetry all over the piano. Mr. Brinsmead deserves enormous respect for his commitment to so many facets of original design ?My Close friend & colleague Paul Robinson & owner of Acme piano restorations In San Diego has been the overseer for this project & has Mothered/shepherded this job for about 2 years now. He has done a fine job of acquiring the right help(grin) materials & designs needed to complete such a unique & complex job. He came up?& brainstormed, & also assisted me in the belly process & was a very valuable extra hand. 2 heads are better than one. Paul does really fine work. ??? This was an incredibly arduous one of a kind restoration. All the glue joints in the board & soundboard liner were shot & all was being held together by approximately 500 screws. I built an new curved laminated maple soundboard liner for the curved side & maple every where else. The original was light spruce & very flimsy.?This is?very odd sound board design but it showed serious innovative intent by this maker. This?man makes Jonas Chickering look like a beginner when it comes to interesting ideas.??? ? For example,The grain on the board runs straight across the bridge(or side to side)?as seen in the pictures?& the 14 ribs were 2 miles long defying traditional sounboard crown ideas.?The substantial cut-off bar & the over all petite treble sound board area served as a good starting point for a viable & efficient?sound board shape. When Dennis & I removed all the screws everything just?went to pieces as seen in the picture.?The board?was massively thick in the middle & tapered to a knife edge on the perimeters. Most unusual?The crown was literally shaped into the board. This straight strung design had ??the sound board edge?was completely floated on the long side near the bass bridge. The bass corner had a cantilevered arrangement to persuade,induce or?retain crown.?Or perhaps just add some tension to the system.? ?The decision was made by the higher powers to request a more modern sound board design & so it now has a rib crowned & supported system. The piano really sings clearly all the way to the top. It will be a real showpiece & a musical instrument some time this year. ? Paul?& I hope it is showcased in concert at some point for so many reasons. ? Pauls refinish guy is true American artisan & an?antique restoration specialist. The case restoration was intense. Carvings to restore & topped off with a gorgeous French Polish. I'll post pictures of the entire case & project when assembled ? The owner collector is unknown?at this point. ? All though this is an 88 note scale & a aggregate tension equal to about 40,00 lb The trebles were very weak sounding I suspect due to the board design. ?? My thanks to Tech. John Delacour of England?who?has been a huge help in providing enthusiastic support,advice &?crunching the string scale numbers on the original string scale,which was very good. ?John even provided a few spare parts.?John is a consummate craftsman,bass string maker?& resident?Brinsmead expert on this List?? Thanks John! ? My friend Paul Robinson of San Diego, pictured below?is the contractor for the entire Job. I'm just responsible for the belly design etc. Terry Farrel in Floida?made the soundboard panel last year. Yes Terry it's finally sounding like a piano now. ? Oh by the way...This is a screw stringer. Go figure. Hey it tunes like a dream but it was a night mare to string. Paul & Trix strung it up. It really requires 2 people. One to manage the screws & strings on?one end & the other in the back to loop around the hitch pins & manage the aliquot. It took them 24 hours each. I guess this is what's called Custom restoration.? Ya think? ? Sincerely ? Dale Erwin View full size View full size View full size View full size ? View full size View full size View full size View full size ? View full size ? Planning your summer road trip? Check out AOL Travel Guides. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: https://www.moypiano.com/ptg/pianotech.php/attachments/20080402/9023a6c5/attachment.html
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