I was at the shop twice this Thanksgiving weekend. On Wednesday, my friends Emily, Karline, and Henry came for a visit and tour. We had lunch on a bench that overlooks five counties. On Friday, I spent an entire day with Celeste.
Our first task was removing two layers of gold paint from my plate, which weighs about 300 pounds. We used three different quarts of paint stripper and a power washer. In the event you find yourself in the same situation, I would highly recommend the "paint & varnish remover" by Jasco.
After that, Celeste showed me how to re-bush my keys. Do you remember Friday, 14 Oct 11 when I removed the old felt? Celeste and I applied new felt with hide glue to ensure that the keys will fit nicely on the balance rail pins and front rail pins. She's much better at it than I am, so I left before doing too much damage.
Bernard gave us homemade cranberry-orange scones with cinnamon on top.
Friday, 2 Dec 11
Before I put new felt on the key frame, Bernard, Celeste, Nathan, Osious, and I glued the ribs to the soundboard with go-bar rods as pictured below. The sky was white with fog, and the wood burning stove was ablaze. It was quite the party.
My dad arrived on Thursday night for a visit. George, Dr. Mallard, Dad, and I toured the shop for a few hours in the morning. Afterwards, the three of them dined at the Red Bud Cafe while I (secretly) recorded George's birthday present with Celeste.
This photo from last week shows the new felt I put into the keyframe along with rust-resistant balance pins.
Friday, 16 Dec 11
Although I truly enjoy the charming company I encounter at the shop, there's also something special about being in such a beautiful place alone. Bernard left a fire in the wood burning stove, and Celeste left an instruction sheet to guide me in cleaning the damper wires and removing felts from the damper heads and guide rail.
Additionally, The Volkert's under levers, hammers, shanks, flanges, wippens, and soundboard decal arrived. Bernard set the brand new packages on the square grand for me to open and admire. And as a square grand is better than a dying ornamented tree, I was more elated than a rich only child on Christmas morning. Pictured below is a new under lever placed in front of the old ones.
Tuesday, 20 Dec 11
Being a Tuesday, the full crew was in. In the morning, I sanded down the guide rail and applied a little bit of shellac. The bulk of the day, however, was spent removing rust from the plate and sanding it down. It was a mess.
Pictured below is the plate with polished bass hitch pins. The treble hitch pins will be new.
Being a Tuesday, the full crew was in. In the morning, I sanded down the guide rail and applied a little bit of shellac. The bulk of the day, however, was spent removing rust from the plate and sanding it down. It was a mess.
Pictured below is the plate with polished bass hitch pins. The treble hitch pins will be new.
Wednesday, 28 Dec 11
It was a day of sanding. I sanded the curves on the under levers (see two photos up) and graphite parts of the wippens (see below) with 500 grit for most of the day. Additionally, I weakened the wippen springs and rubbed white teflon powder into the yellow buckskin-like pieces shown below. After the sun came out, I did a little more sanding of the plate.
It was a day of sanding. I sanded the curves on the under levers (see two photos up) and graphite parts of the wippens (see below) with 500 grit for most of the day. Additionally, I weakened the wippen springs and rubbed white teflon powder into the yellow buckskin-like pieces shown below. After the sun came out, I did a little more sanding of the plate.
END PART IV
