Time to get dirty!

One of the first things to do is get the piano all apart and take a good look at the nooks and crannies. Although I did give it a pretty good looking over before I agreed to take it (so as to not set myself up for guaranteed failure), I just want to really get all components out of the piano and really get in there for a visual confirmation of everything. See previous postings for more detail on how to get the main components out of the piano. Once you get that figured out, you can take a look at the peripherals. These are the smaller parts, such as the pedal pneumatic, the governor, as well as the piano parts like pedal rods. Each piano is different, so you will have to figure out all the fine details for yourself.

Very important: make extensive, accurate notes and take detailed pictures of the following actions, in other words: everything which is to be dismantled. While there is really no such thing as too many notes, there will certainly be unhappiness caused by not taking enough. Unless you are doing this professionally, you are probably doing this (as I am) in your spare time, so it may be months in between the teardown time and final reinstallation. You have been warned!

This disassembly will also allow complete access to the belly of the instrument, which in turn permits the execution of a ho-hum but important first step (it’s on the checklist): cleaning!

When I say cleaning, what I am talking about primarily is a combination of air treatments: compressed air blowing and vacuum. The ideal scenario is to have a compressor with a blowgun attachment, and to be able to take the empty piano outside, as this process is going to generate a lot of dusty gunk.
In my case, due to various circumstances of my setup, I do not fall into this ideal scenario, therefore I have to clean the piano in situ. In the event that you don’t have access to a compressor, you will just have to manage with vacuum alone.

So again, after removing the case parts, the player top action, the piano action, the keys, the bottom pump trunk action, and the peripherals, now I am down to the bare essentials. Since I can’t bring the piano outside, and I do not wish to get dirt over every surface in the room, I have to use a longer protocol. First thing is set up, or preparation. I will tape up some plastic sheeting on the surrounding walls (which are white) to mitigate dirt migration. Also cover whatever else is laying on horizontal surfaces, to avoid getting things covered in a fine layer of dust.

In terms of safety I advise wearing safety glasses, and also ear plugs. A compressor may not seem “loud”, but remember its job is to generate a heck of a lot of air pressure, which is the scientific definition of sound. It may just sound like a low noise, but just because the frequency is low, does not mean the level cannot be harmful if it is intense enough.

Now to the cleaning: start with vacuuming, to do a first pass and get a lot of the heavier stuff, dust bunnies and so on. A crevice tool is helpful to get into tight spaces, and a brush attachment is good as well, for some of the hard surfaces. A vacuum won’t get everything, so after the first pass it is time to switch to the compressor, and watch the dust fly. I found about 80 PSI to be a good level, I recommend not making the pressure too strong, or you could damage some action parts. In an attempt to limit the dispersement of dust, what I try to do is direct the air flow into the vacuum, to get a “tag team” effect. With some angles and positions this will be futile, but it’s worth a shot. Once that’s done, the piano should be good for another 75 years or so, before its next cleaning, hehe.

Note that I am assuming garden variety circumstances of normal dirt accumulation in the piano. In the event that there has been vermin or other animal contamination, these are special (by special I mean rather unpleasant) conditions which require special remedies. These can be looked up elsewhere, or you could contact me if you are stuck.
Another disagreeable possibility is the concentration of mildew or mold in the piano, which sometimes occurs in old pianos which have been stored in damp environments, for a prolonged period. In fact, I did have some on my piano, when I first opened it up, but the nice silver lining was that it was most surface mold, on the darker, hard surfaces. Taking the affected components out of the piano and exposing them to direct sunlight for a couple of days will really knock back the mold. You can wipe off hard surfaces with a rag dampened slightly with hot water diluted with white vinegar. Don’t use too much and dry the same parts right away. For permeable surfaces like felts and cloths (or hammers) which are heavily soiled, there is not much to be done, they must be replaced.

In summary, active vermin or bio-contaminants can pose a real health risk, especially when disturbed, so do take appropriate precautions when getting dirty in such environments.

Getting back to the task at hand, take the piano action outside and give that a good blowing out, and the other components if you feel the need. Again take care with the power of the compressor, you don’t want to make extra work for yourself by damaging components. To be on the safe side wear a dust mask, and if it is really nasty in there, a respirator may be merited. You also won’t want to wear your Sunday best for this job; if your clothes and body are not covered in dust when you are done, you probably have left too much dirt in the piano!

Even the air compressor may not get built-on grime, you will have to go again with the slightly damp rag and wipe down parts like the hammer rail, brackets, and perhaps the plate if it is grimy too. Use the same treatment as described above, for mold. Eventually you will also have to clean the stack and pump parts in the same manner, although it doesn’t have to be on the same day.

Once every thing is fairly cleaned off, make sure the light is good and carefully make an inspection of all the parts to see what needs replacing and what doesn’t. The rationale for deciding what needs doing is made up of several factors, the most important of which is the proper functionality of the instrument. I made reference to this in the previous post “on value”.
In a subsequent post I will give some more details on what it is I discovered with my piano.

Returning to the big picture, I need to assess what work on the piano part needs doing. In this case, I am both the technician and the customer: I alone determine what my goals are, and how they are to be achieved.

In this business, there are different terms often bandied about, such as restoration, refurbishment, rebuilding, and so on. Restoration is a nebulous term which I tend to avoid, when I wish to talk specifics. A complete rebuilding is the most thorough treatment for a piano, and is supposed to involve new pinblock, tuning pins, strings, soundboard and bridges, action parts, and case refinishing. In other words, the piano is returned to approximately the same condition it was in when it left the factory or showroom.

[Sidebar: Sadly, unscrupulous persons often sell a “complete rebuilding” to unsuspecting customers, when they have really only addressed the cosmetic issues of the piano, and perhaps some superficial action problems as well. But this is really for another post.]

A refurbishment is a less intensive intervention; it may involve replacing strings, hammers, damper felts, perhaps other action parts, as well as keytops. It would likely not entail belly work or cabinet refinishing. No matter what degree of action work is done, it is understood that a complete regulation will follow any significant labour.

I am leaning toward this latter treatment, for several reasons: because the action is serviceable, and because of previous work already having been done; because I am particularly interested in the player action, and finally because I believe I will be adequately satisfied with the piano as is, I am not going to do any major parts replacement, where the piano portion is concerned. And of course, cost.

A proper, full restoration/rebuilding does call for all of the above-mentioned protocols to be followed, however it must be understood that this means investing an incredible amount of time and energy, not to mention the cost of parts. This is where we get into the question of value, as well.  So just what is “value”, anyhow?

The “value” of an instrument is measured in different ways, both monetary and sentimentally. The monetary is determined by standard criteria such as brand, type, rarity, age and present condition. It is a reasonably objective criterion and the standard and immutable rules of supply and demand apply here as well. This is the type of mindset I stick to when I evaluate instruments for sale or purchase, for my clients.

The instrument in question here is ultimately a quality yet garden-variety Canadian piano, in average condition (poor in terms of current playability), nearly 100 years old. The availability of such instruments (with complete player action) is declining, true; but by the same token demand is fairly nil in the current market. Hence I got the piano for “free”.

Sentimental value, on the other hand, is a highly subjective but powerful motivator. If the piano has been in a certain family for several generations, and this family has historically valued music and learned to play on this instrument, then the piano will obviously be held in great esteem and the current generation will be receptive to the idea of spending money to revitalize or at least improve it. In my case this particular piano has no sentimental value, as I have recently acquired it, but certainly my vocation does occasionally bias me with warm feelings toward antique instruments.

The value to me will be in having an educational tool in the short term, and having an enjoyable and functional player piano for the long term. I can achieve this goal without a complete rebuilding of the piano. Not only that, but from an objectively financial point of view, it would be foolhardy to expend thousands of dollars in materials and work hours to marginally increase the market value which is currently next to nothing.

Essentially this post is a simply a lengthy disclaimer of sorts; while I accept without reservation the idea that a century-old piano needs a full rebuilding to perform at its full potential, I also do not feel compelled to undertake a complete piano rebuilding for the reasons outlined above. I furthermore reserve the right to change my mind in future; after all, there is no real penalty or additional complications from waiting to make additional improvements to the instrument.

When the piano is yours, you get to make the rules!

I don’t want to take an abundance of time on this; however it does bear mentioning, so here goes!

The primary purpose of this blog is to document the rebuilding of the player action, but as I mentioned at the beginning, ultimately we need to see the instrument holistically, as the whole piano needs to work as a unit. If the piano does not operate well, the work on the player action is wasted.

To review; before taking reception of the piano, I had already checked the major structural issues like case solidity, soundboard and bridges integrity, and pinblock stability. Similarly I checked the piano action for completeness and functionality.

My evaluation confirmed that there were no obvious deficiencies in the case or structure (the “belly”) of the piano. Nonetheless, because the piano was rather dusty and musty, I didn’t know one hundred percent of the information I desired, so I gave it a much-needed air blast and vacuuming. You really only get all those nooks and crannies with compressed air (I will get into that in more detail, in another post soon).

The action is somewhat tired, but serviceable. The piano plays well enough; some of the hammer centers pins are binding in their bushings, causing a few notes to be sluggish. This calls for a lube/cleaning solution, and failing this some selective rebushing/repinning of those parts. Action centres are one of those things which are sometimes taken for granted; however if they are not doing their job properly the action will grind to a halt. I will keep my fingers crossed that widespread repinning of all centres will not be necessary – there are hundreds of those things!

The hammer heads have noticeable string grooves worn in them. Interestingly I think that the hammers may be original, they bear the mark of Bohne & Co. I believe they still have one carding left in them.

[Sidebar: this is another Canadian firm which originally made piano parts, but decided to concentrate on springs in the early 1940’s, as the war redirected production profitability away from the consumer market, to the military-industrial market. The company still operates today.]

All action and damper felts are present, and show an expected degree of wear. In a nutshell the piano still works and plays reasonably well, although it is somewhat tired and could use some sprucing up at the very least. The damper felts have a bit of leakage due to their age-induced hardening; I will have to decide for myself if I will accept them “as is”.

I mentioned in a previous post my suspicions that at least one intermediate intervention had been done on the piano. Although the action looks fairly original, there are some things which stand out. Some of the more obvious examples:

• The strings, for example, do not show excessive oxidization or corrosion. That would be a bit unusual (in this climate), if the strings were original, meaning almost 100 years old.
• The keytops are plastic, the originals would have certainly been ivory. The front decal (Willis & Co.) On the nameboard is missing, and it looks like the case has been refinished.
• There are similar telltale signs from what I can see on the player action, such as the addition of certain couplers and hose clamps that are certainly not OEM parts! Also the fact that several of the expression tube runs did not make any logical sense; perhaps this went unnoticed as the stack and transmission components were still tubed correctly.

I don’t know when this work was done, and I don’t know the precise quality of the work, but I have not yet seen any alarming things jump out. By “alarming” I mean work which is very wrong and very challenging to fix easily, the kind of thing that makes your head hurt when you see it. With some experience, you notice “hack” work almost immediately, and are able to size up how much work it will take to undo what has been badly done.

In summary, I still believe I can work with the piano (for the most part) in its current state, and I will have more to say about that next time.

Source: http://www.bohnespring.ca/profile/history.html

Aye-aye-aye — where does the time go?

Since the last post, the end of summer flew by, the leaves fell, then it was some white precipitation…2016 has snuck up on me!
So after falling off the blog wagon, time to get back on!

As mentioned in the previous post, I need to get a few planning things down on paper to plan the execution of this job. My list so far includes:

• Tubing diagram
• Block diagram overview
• Checklist of tasks (customized)

Each of these items serve a different yet equally important role. Like the human body has different vital systems (e.g. skeletal, neural, muscular) which play cooperative roles, so too the piano has various systems which act in concert, to make the magic happen.

The tubing diagram is necessary in order to firstly understand where the air flow is going and how the system works, and also to document where all the elements connect to one another. As all the existing tubing will be removed and replaced, it should be obvious why it is vital to keep track of the 100+ tube runs in the action. After a couple of drafts, I came up with the following document, with some guidance and input from John Tuttle of player-care.com (thanks John!)

Willis pianola tubing diagram V2

To better get a handle on the “big picture” of this player action rebuild, and understand it as a sum of the various parts, a block diagram will be helpful. It is a more “at a glance” view of the project, although all of these elements will eventually need to be independently examined and evaluated. More on that in a moment.

I believe this simple block diagram will assist to trace out the relationship between the components and compartmentalize them into smaller projects. Here’s what I came up with:

I was originally going to put some effort into creating this diagram, but I don’t really see the value in making something fancy — it’s just a quick and rough visual cue. So by reducing the player action to a series of pieces, it makes the process seem less daunting — at least that is the idea!

Finally I adapted a master checklist, which applies to the whole piano. This is the opposite of the big picture; rather this is the nitty gritty details which all have to be done before the piano will perform as it should. I have customized this list, but it is modeled after the one Art Reblitz uses, listed in his book.

Player piano restoration checklist

I will continue in more detail in further posts – cross-referencing the above documents as we go along – but for now, let’s ruminate on that for a bit!

Well…this has been an informative day.  I began today with the intention of mapping out the plan, visually,  of the restoration process. I realized I had made a couple of assumptions. The first is that I would remember all the details of my piano, but alas it was not to be and I had to go inspect the actions again.

The second assumption was that the few sketchy details I had seen to date in old periodicals convinced me in a cursory fashion that I had a Standard player action on my hands.  But there were some things that didn’t jive – the action did not all match up and there was a “Theme” function that was never mentioned in Standard literature. The Theme was a creation of the Aeolian Company.

So, I took the path of least resistance and crowdsourced some answers on the Facebook. There was not a consensus, except that most had not seen a player action quite like this.  Some folks in the Player Piano Talk group recognized some features an “Autopiano” action, particularly with respect to the motor, tracking device and other details of the pump. However others, including John Tuttle, pointed out that the governor and transmission were not an exact match to the Autopiano archetype. Tony Law of Ottawa mentioned that it was similar to an action he had seen in a Weber brand piano, which may have been a Sterling Action & Keys brand player.

Upon opening the valve chest, there are further clues which point back to Autopiano, or in fact “Auto Deluxe” (the former being the piano brand name, the latter being the action brand name).  The screw on, stem-style secondary valves were used almost exclusively by Auto Deluxe, and not at all by Standard, at least this is my understanding. So until further notice, the working organology is “Auto Deluxe variant”!

At this point it is really academic; the main goal now is to plan and move forward. I need to figure out all the features this action has, how it works and map it, before complete disassembly.

To be continued!

 

Finally!

Admit it, the suspense was just killing you, wasn’t it?

Let’s have a peek at this beast, shall we? It is pretty “Standard” fare (yea, pun intended) as far as player pianos go: there were hundreds of thousands of pianos almost identical to this one manufactured in Canada and the US. (If you want to read a blurb about where I got the piano, go back here to the start.) In this sense I am fortunate, as the more common the player system, the more reference material there is available. So, we open the lid, take off the front panel, and here we are!

Where to begin? The first time I opened up the piano and got a good look, that was the question I asked myself. I was reminded of the old question “How does one eat an elephant?” to which the answer is “One bite at a time!” In other words, we will have to break it down into organized, bite-sized tasks, in order to avoid being overwhelmed. For this, we will need a plan (forthcoming).

In the meantime, let’s see what’s under the hood. I am not really going to retread over well-worn ground, so if you want to see how to open up the piano and remove the player action, check out John Tuttle’s video here.

I will just show a few important steps to watch out for, when removing the top player action. Both the top and bottom actions are an unfortunate combination of large, heavy, awkward and yet breakable, so in my case I have help when extracting the player action.

The following photos illustrate (on my particular model of player action) what to disconnect before attempting to extract. Your piano may not be as illustrated!

There may even be another control hose connection, hiding around the back somewhere, you will have to look. When you think everything is disconnected, pull the action forward a bit, and check that there is a gap between the player fingers and the piano action wippens (shown in John Tuttle’s video above). The action must be clear of any obstacles, for a smooth extraction (which is obviously what we are after here).

Some of these hoses are tough to get off, if they are old and decrepit. There will be some wiggling involved, which may end up just severing the hose at the nipple or junction point. They will be replaced, in my case.*

The condition of hoses and pneumatics can be deceptive. Here is another picture, showing the interior condition of one of the main feed hoses. The exterior of the twill hose didn’t look so bad, but inside it is compromised –dry and crumbly.

Once the player action has been extracted, we can get a better look at both the “stack” and the piano action, to see what we’ve got.

On top of the stack, for example, there is the spoolbox which is where the piano roll goes when you want to play. Normally there is player brand identification here, but in this case that is no longer present. This is a kind of clue that tells me that there has been some past intervention in the piano, and that it is not all-original. That may (or may not) be a good sign; it all depends on what work was previously undertaken, and to what standard of care and competence.

Speaking of clues, it is fun to look for little visual “easter eggs” and try and interpret what they are telling you (I was an avid reader of Sherlock Holmes as a boy!). For instance, let’s look at the following picture. What do you see?

What I extrapolate from this picture is that the scratching on the control cover is caused by someone (presumably right-handed) who was playing at the control levers with their right hand, while hanging on to the cover with their left hand, and over time scratching the finish (and the wood!) with their fingernails.

That’s a pretty obvious one, but sometimes these clues can tell you useful things about the instrument, if you keep your eyes open.

Also, here is a detail shot of the bottom action, seen after removing bottom door of piano. The same rules of extraction apply for this part; after disconnection of hose feeds and linkages, it should come out as one unit as well. Refer to John Tuttle’s video.

Now that we have more access, we need to make a plan of attack. To be continued!

 

*If one were just doing this extraction procedure for the purposes of, say, replacing a broken string, then things become more complicated. I can tell you from experience that working on a really old piano, with really old original parts (brittle, stiff, and otherwise fragile) can be a minefield; parts may be damaged inadvertently, with despite one’s best efforts, and the owner of the piano may try to hold you responsible for these broken parts, which are well past their best-before date. It is advantageous to give a general disclaimer before digging in and taking everything apart.

Where does one get information and materials about an arcane subject like player piano restoration?

Here are some of the sources I have found, so far, which have helped in my understanding in undertaking this task:

Books:

Piano Player Servicing and Rebuilding by Art Reblitz. This is generally referred to as the “Bible” of player piano information. While not the only book about the subject, it is the most prevalent and complete single volume thereupon, to my knowledge. It is still in print and fairly widely available, here and at the usual online giant booksellers, for a modest price.  Heck, if you’re curious, you can probably even borrow a copy from your local public library! The book is a great resource for those (like me) who are starting to get their hands dirty for the first time (where players are concerned). My only criticism of the book is that the photography is somewhat dated and sometimes lacking in detail. This is greatly exacerbated in the more recent editions, which are produced “on demand” by online retailers, from inferior source material. According to Arthur Reblitz, somewhere along the line the original plates for the book were lost and Vestal Press made the decision to allow continued publishing with lesser quality, to keep costs down. While I do see the importance of keeping the book in print (and at a modest price), it is nonetheless an unfortunate tradeoff to sacrifice the visual quality of the book. Therefore I would recommend finding a good used copy with an edition dating from the mid 1990s or earlier. I am unsure exactly in which edition the quality diminished, however by examining the photo plates it should be obvious; if the pictures have the “photocopied” look, then it is an inferior edition. The better edition should have “Vestal Press” written below the author’s name, as pictured here:

Obviously my point of reference is now the Internet, where there the quantity and size of photographs are not an issue in the way they are in a physical book. It’s part of the reason for my creation of this docu-blog. Having said that, having the “better” edition does make a difference, and to be clear this book is an invaluable resource for new and experienced rebuilders alike. Get yourself a copy!

Piano Servicing, Tuning and Rebuilding, by Reblitz as well. This is a companion book which deals with the piano itself (not the player mechanism). If you are trying to discover and figure out the piano, as well as the player, then this is a good book to have as well. In 2019 the 3rd edition was released.

Online:

player-care.com A site purveyed by John Tuttle, who seems to be a one-man industry unto himself. His site is jam-packed with info and tips, although obviously one still has to pay for specific manuals and information on certain pianos, quite understandably. John also sells supplies and sundries for player pianos, which is handy for the hobbyist, as most supply firms will only sell to professionals (a policy with which I happen to agree). In addition to his website, he also has a Youtube channel with many good videos on a range of player topics. Thank goodness for people like him!

AMICA is an organization dedicated to all collectors of “Automatic Music”; in addition to organizing meetings and publishing a journal, they have a website which includes documents that I have found valuable, such as the Billings Rollography, and some technical papers as well. You need to be a full member (e.g. paid membership) to access this section of the website; I recommend joining. Many of the documents have been collected and codified by Terry Smythe; here is an example I gleaned from his personal page, before he migrated the content to the AMICA site.

The following is a publication from Standard Pneumatic Player Action Co; it is part marketing literature, part technical primer and part parts catalogue. It has some nice line drawings (page 13 is a great cross-sectional scale drawing of the entire piano) and explanations of how the mechanism works, so even salesmen can understand 😀

(This is a PDF format with a size of about 4 megs, persons with slow connections may be frustrated)

Standard_Player_Action

Mechanical Music Digest: another group for the purpose of dissemination and discussion of all topics related mechanical music. Although sometimes a bit generalized (when you are after player piano information specifically), there are many knowledgeable people who will take time to answer questions. The feature of the group I find useful is the daily email list, which covers a range of topics, including relevant information on player pianos. Membership and subscription to the list are currently free, although they gratefully accept donations!

Facebook: if you are on social media (and who isn’t these days?), there is a group for AMICA and another titled “player piano talk”. Interesting photographs, videos and commentary can be seen here periodically.

I am probably omitting some other obvious ones, but that should get you started!

When I acquired the piano, I also got a lot of rolls at the same time. The conditions vary somewhat; although almost all of them are originals (as opposed to “recuts” or newer rolls), so my personal opinion would be to rate them from fair to poor, based on this fact alone.

Rolls are made of mostly of paper, and as such suffer from environmental and mechanical hazards. Poor or rough handling or playback can result in rips, tears or severe creases. Excessive sustained humidity (or dryness) can lead to mould or stiffness/cracking. Pest infiltration can also have a deleterious effect on rolls.

It is therefore advantageous to properly store piano rolls, in order to mitigate these factors. Beyond these considerations, however, it is simply more convenient and aesthetically pleasing to have the rolls organized and out of the way (these latter points are especially germane and appurtenant,  where my wife is concerned).

So, what to do? The options are to purchase or fabricate. Around these parts, there are not a wide variety of suitable “off the shelf” furniture options. As an occupational by-product I have some experience with woodworking, although I am not within the realm of fine cabinet-making.
I have a basic set of tools — some manual hand tools and power hand tools. I am primarily concerned with function and utility, less with cosmetics and flair (although I do not wish the finished project to look unnecessarily slapdash). I also do not wish to spend an excessive amount of hours on this particular project — there is still a lot of work ahead!

Considering all the foregoing, I decided to proceed using contemporary DIY techniques: the cabinet is made from one standard 4’x8′ sheet of decent quality ¾” plywood (no surface gaps or blemishes), three 8′ lengths of ¾” trim for edge banding. That’s it! Well, there is also the backing. In my case I had some pieces of ¼” ply leftover from a previous project, but you can use hardboard or just about and similar material. In my case the materials cost me around $75 (to the best of my recollection).

As I don’t have a furnished wood shop, I also do not have means to make precise cuts on a large sheet of plywood (for which ideally you need a table saw with panel supports). There are jigs and such out there that work in conjunction with smaller hand saws, but for my money the best solution is just to have the local home center (where you purchase the wood) do this for you, at minimal additional cost.

The cabinet design is my own, tailored to measure; taking into consideration the space in which the cabinet will live, and the volume inside each shelf cavity to hold rolls. Most of my rolls are standard 88-note rolls (e.g. QRS), the boxes of which measure 2 ¼” x 2 1/8″ x 12 ½”.

The first thing I needed to decide was the depth of the cabinet, which I chose at 13″. Knowing this, I had the guys at the home center cut three 13″ strips (lengthwise, each the full 96″ length), off the panel. This left a cutoff of approximately 8″x96″ for which I will find another use. Two of the cut panels will be for each side, the third will be resawn into pieces for the shelves and top.

The one tabletop tool I do have is a radial chop saw. It has a 14″ sawing capacity, so this is perfectly adequate to process my 13″ wide panels which I have had cut. I want each cavity in the cabinet to have a 12 ¾ high x 13 ¾ wide dimension . This provides a space for 6 x 6 standard rolls (or 36 per cavity), while ensuring the scale of the cabinet fits where I need it to go.

So, based on my fixed dimensions of the cavities, I will be able to fit 5 of these in the height of the cabinet (which I have fixed at 73 ¼” overall), with a little left over on the bottom (which I actually prefer, to not have the rolls on the bottom shelf nearly touching the floor). This meas cutting each shelf at 13 ¾”, they will be butt-joined into the cabinet sides (to be explained soon). The top as well will be butt-joined down onto the sides, so it needs to be ( 2 x ¾”) longer to accommodate this. Therefore, our cutlist for the cabinet looks like this:

• 2 sides @ 72 ½ inches
• 1 top @ 15 ¼ inches
• 5 shelves @ 13 ¾ inches
• 2 spacers @ 12 ¾ inches (to be explained)

Keeping in mind that we are using the pre-cut 13″ strips for all these cuts; the planning aspect is minimal but still necessary. We just need to realize that the cutoffs from each side panel will be used as a shelf (or spacer – does not matter in this case), and we will have enough wood to spare without running out! Some projects require very meticulous cut planning, when specific wood is rare (valuable) or simply in limited supply.

Now that the cuts are done, it is joinery time. The way I conceived the design of the assembly makes use of pocket hole joinery. This is obviously not the traditional “purist” way to make cabinets, but for this project that is not my concern — as I have explained.*

What I need for this project is my Kreg Jig, and some finishing nails for the trim. No glue required! Glue really only works well on face joints, and there are none of those to be found in my design.

These pocket holes need to be drilled (in my design) in the inside top of each side panel (to fit the top), and on the sides of each shelf piece. Some pictures, to save me 1000 words:

Assembly consists of fitting the top to one side panel, then using the spacers (mentioned above) to lock in the position of each succeeding shelf, working your way down from the top. When the first side of each shelf has been completed, gingerly flip the assembly onto the inside of the second side panel (pay attention to orientation!), secure the other side of the top, then proceed with the spacers again to finalize the assembly of the case.

To complete the cabinet you can trim it out with a ¾” wide trim of your choice. I used finishing nails to fasten them, with no wood filler. Since I am using stain and not paint, wood filler really sticks out as much as nail holes, so I didn’t bother. A light sanding to smooth down any rough spots and then finishing as per your taste. I chose a two-tone approach, as I had a little of two jars (golden oak and natural) leftover, once again from another project. Such a cheapskate I am! (thrifty Scottish heritage, methinks).

The “finished” project:

Now that this diversion is complete, on to the main event!

*If you wish to see true historic cabinetmaking, a good point of reference is Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia. At Hay’s cabinet shop a master and his journeymen labour the days away making fine furniture using strictly traditional techniques. Of particular interest to me is harpsichord making (mostly done by Ed Wright). Between time taken to manually attend to each detail, and constantly answering tourists’ questions, I frankly don’t know how they manage to build anything at all!

Thus far I haven’t really gotten into reproducing pianos too much, as they are a rather different animal than the instrument I have.

However, there are certainly a few relevant things worth mentioning, again pertaining to the 1919 era.

Picking up where we left off in the last post (WWI); one of the smaller silver linings of war (for the winners of course), is the absorption of desirable immigrants fleeing conflict zones. We are generally talking scientists, political or religious figures, intellectuals, and sometimes even artists. In the 20th Century, as the Allied powers came out on top (at least in the first half), they therefore benefited from such émigrés in large numbers. One specific example, for the purposes of this post: Sergei Rachmaninoff. For those who are not familiar, Rachmaninoff was a late-Romantic Russian composer and pianist, one of the towering musical talents of the early 20th Century. He was one of the many notable “first wave” or “White émigrés” to leave Russia in the wake of the Revolution, and subsequent Civil War.

So, what exactly does this have to do with player pianos? I’m glad you asked!

As nicely summarized here by Mike Springer, Rachmaninoff arrived in America in late 1918. Like many refugees he was not exactly flush with cash, despite his fearsome talents and abilities. In order to make money, Rachmaninoff eschewed composition and reembarked on the life of a virtuoso concert pianist. In addition to maintaining a demanding touring piano schedule (his first tour was 40 concerts in 4 months – undertaken in his late 40’s), he also recorded (in a conventional acoustic fashion) for Edison and Victor (later RCA/HMV) AND in the fledgling format of reproducing pianos, for the American Piano Company (AKA Ampico).

This is probably a good time to mention that Ampico was a type of reproducing system for the piano. Reproducing pianos were superior to standard player pianos, in the sense that they were capable of more nuances, including pedal expression and tempo articulations, which were recorded directly in the encoding of the piano roll. This is a critical distinction; because although it meant sacrificing some of the interactive aspects of the musical rendering (for the pianola player), the gains were in having a superior level of expression by great artists, built in to their interpretations of the piano music. Listening to a good playback on a reproducing piano is a surprisingly accurate approximation of listening to the piano masters of the past, at the piano. Along with Duo-Art and Welte, Ampico made up the the lion’s share of the reproducing piano market.

At any rate, apparently Rachmaninoff was sufficiently impressed with the process (upon hearing the reproduction of his first Ampico performance played back to him) that he is quoted as saying to Ampico executives: “Gentlemen, I have just heard myself”! Whether he was just being polite or not, who can say? In another promotional quotation, he is recorded as stating, in 1919 : “I have played my own works for the reproducing piano because of its absolute faithfulness and capacity to preserve beautiful tone painting”. (This quote and those of other famous contemporary pianists can be seen here).

While quotes like this may just seem like self-serving marketing, it is important to keep in mind as well (again paraphrasing Springer, who may or may not be paraphrasing Good) that the sound of a nicely maintained piano was actually better than that which contemporary recording technology could offer at the time.
In other words: given the choice, why pick a live, relatively unedited recording which was primitively captured and played on a pitiful “lo-fi” speaker; when you could have a polished performance played back on an actual piano, the instrument for which it was specifically encoded?

I think that in 1919, it probably would not have been a difficult choice at all!

This concludes the history portion of the blog 😀

I will get to the “meat and potatoes” of the project soon (promise!), but in the meantime I wish to continue to wax historic — in the big picture — about the world in which this instrument was created. I have already given an overview of the industry-specific context in Canada and USA; so what else can we learn about our society nearly a century ago?

A quick and handy overview of 1919, courtesy of Wikipedia, reveals some events which seem far-removed, and other trends which are tragically familiar (looking at you, Middle East). All in all, 1919 was quite a monumental year.

In some ways, it was a very different world:

A world in which a concert pianist could be elected Prime Minister of a democratic country.

A world in which it took a transcontinental convoy of the US Army (including a young Major, D.D. Eisenhower) months to traverse the country by road, because there wasn’t to be an Interstate highway system for another 30 years. Average convoy speed (Washington D.C. to Oakland, CA): 5 mph.

A world in which a nationwide constitutional ban on the sale, production, importation, and transportation of alcohol is approved in the United States (this was almost immediately reflected in the popular music of the day, becoming fodder for song lyrics).

A world in which there transpired a bizarre (albeit tragic) flood of molasses (yes-molasses!) in the streets of Boston.

A world in which several players of the Chicago White Sox conspired to lose the World Series, in what became known as the “Black Sox scandal”. Thereafter the mythology of a curse was born, and the team did not win the series until 2005.

There are several notable firsts in 1919 such as the first transatlantic flight, and confirmation of Einstein’s theory of general relativity. There are also slightly-less notable firsts, such as first appearance of Felix the Cat.

In music, enduring pieces such as de Falla’s El Sombrero de tres picos, Elgar’s Cello Concerto, Milhaud’s Le boeuf sur le toit and Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite #1 are all premiered.

Future stars of the jazz world including Nat “king” Cole, George Shearing, Art Blakey and Anita O’Day are born, as well as folk legend Pete Seeger and the one and only…Liberace!

And, much like today, it was an intense period of strife, social unrest, and above all appalling violence.

1919 heralded some terrible natural disasters, such as the Florida Keys Hurricane, and eruption of the Kelud volcano in Java.

1919 Also marked the end of the Spanish Influenza pandemic, which had killed an estimated 3-5% of the world’s population.

A burgeoning movement of women’s rights and suffrage gained measurable traction, in Europe and in North America.

A continuing battle for worker’s rights, with major strikes and riots in Winnipeg, Seattle, Cleveland, and throughout Europe as well. Predictably these events ended in conflict with police forces, with violent results (even by today’s standards). Ironically, in London and Liverpool, the police themselves went on strike in 1919, in an effort to improve collective bargaining.

The labour movement suffered many setbacks this year as US government forces, fearing the spread of Bolshevism, suspended civil rights and due process, imprisoning many citizens without charge. Non-citizens were deported en masse back to Europe and other parts of the world. As part of a reaction to this climate of repression, Galleanist anarchists mailed a series of bombs to authorities and prominent businessmen. Also during this “Red Summer” there were numerous race riots across the country, with terrible violence visited against the African-American population of the United States. It is sad to write this almost a century later, and realize that with the recent federal election a return to that world is more possible than ever.

1919 was a time of transition for political and social movements.

In the Middle East, the newly-signed Faisal–Weizmann Agreement promoted Arab-Jewish cooperation in Palestine, and the creation of a Jewish homeland. In Egypt there is revolution against British rule; the British government sends various envoys (including T.E. Lawrence) to intervene and eventually launch the Milner Mission, which ultimately leads to Egyptian independence. Afghanistan gains independence from Britain in 1919.

Wars of independence also begin in Ireland, as well as Estonia and Latvia. Many books have been written about events in the impending Soviet sphere at this time.

As a portent of events to come, Mussolini founds the Fascist party in Milan, and Hitler infiltrates and gives his first address to the German Worker’s party; the party which he will eventually lead and transform into the Nationalist Socialist Party.

Of course the major event in the minds of most in the Western world is the Great War. These four years of madness and trauma which had left up to an estimated 18M people dead, well over a third of these being civilian.  The war finally formally ends with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles on June 28th (without ratification from USA). The first Remembrance Day is observed this year, on November 11 (obviously!).

The aftermath of the war will be felt for years, and, due to the Treaty’s punishing and humiliating terms for Germany, it essentially sows the seeds of malignancy which inexorably lead to WW2.

This aftermath is expressed in Western culture in many manifestations; one of the most memorable (for me personally) is W.B Yeats’ poem The Second Coming, which contains allusions to the war and that period of time in general. Some specific lines of the poem (and the overall feeling of the prose) are every bit as relevant today as when they were penned. It too was written in 1919.

Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.

Surely some revelation is at hand;
Surely the Second Coming is at hand.
The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out
When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi
Troubles my sight: somewhere in sands of the desert
A shape with lion body and the head of a man,
A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,
Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it
Reel shadows of the indignant desert birds.
The darkness drops again; but now I know
That twenty centuries of stony sleep
Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?

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