Reassembly of a piano action/ Broadwood & Sons

[@sgsax]

Really impressive improvement on the action there, and mostly just from cleaning. Amazing how that build up can affect the instrument over time. Great job so far. Can't wait to see the next steps! Thanks for sharing!

[@HovingtonInstruments]

Yes, I was amazed at how much difference it made. I expected some but was reallyhappy to see the results. Thanks for your following Seth.

[@CMRWoodworks]

Enjoying the series. It‘s really neat to see the history of it, like the tickets being used as shims. That‘s pretty cool!

[@HovingtonInstruments]

Thanks Chris:)

[@2old4u]

Excellent. Your approach to detail is spot on. Well done.

[@HovingtonInstruments]

Thanks, my attention to detail was turned off when I forgot to put the key back in 😂

[@christianwouters6764]

Was there a reason not to replace the hammerrest felt? It looks damaged and worn. For an Erard style mechanism this is not so important but the simple escapement of the Broadwood requires the hammer shank to rest directly on the felt.

[@kyrvhy]

The name 'Thompson written on the outside of the 'upper case' was signed all over my piano. All the names were written rather than stamped as I remember. How wonderful to see Mr. Thompsons signature again. My piano was from 1873.

[@HovingtonInstruments]

Our piano aren’t that far apart then.. I love finding names inside:)

[@docscantlin]

Ha, I should have waited to the end. Duh! Glad you received it. God bless and enjoy your gorgous piano.

[@HovingtonInstruments]

No worries, I do this all the time:)

[@scaira60]

Tomy, What a labor of love You are Awesome*** Thank you for sharing this with us, I know how much time & effort it takes to film & edit a vidieo. Thank you again & God Bless

[@HovingtonInstruments]

Thanks for following the restoration:) Yes sometimes it’s slows the workflow by a lot ...

[@matthewjamestaylor]

So cool. I'm taking your advice and doing a smaller project as a break from the larger project. I am mounting a bench vise on my larger work bench. Hurray. Cheers.

[@jipes]

Well it was worth all the efforts ! Glad that the semichrome trick worked for teh keyboard these seems to do miracles even on old guitar finish

[@HovingtonInstruments]

Thanks, we’re really happy on how things are working out so far :)

[@michaelryan9163]

Broadwood tuned as high as A454.7 in 1874, though 446 would not be atypical for home use. No need to further reduce string tension with smaller diameters. Kudos to you for taking on this project!

[@HovingtonInstruments]

Thanks for the information.. Good to know

[@keithanderson6465]

This is SO COOL! Thank you so much!! I also own a Broadwood like this but mine is from the 1880s (I believe). I too have some keys sticking and have had the action out to look at it several times. It could probably benefit from my undertaking a cleaning just like this so I have been watching your videos quite closely. I have never taken the action apart being reluctant to do so. But I may consider it in the future. My main problem is that I play the thing everyday and it doesn’t appear that it can be done quickly.

[@HovingtonInstruments]

Hi Keith, if you only go after the keys that are sticking I’m pretty sure you can do it in a day. The time consuming steps for me were dust removal and key polishing. Dusting and cleaning was fairly quick. If I had to do it again though, I would use the simichrome on the key pins prior to applying the wax. I think it would have cleaned up the years of gunk prior to applying the wax.

[@docscantlin]

Mr. Hovington: Did you ever get your rosewood veneer. I will be happy to send you some more if it got lost. Let me know. This is fascinating and so enjoyable to watch. Keep it coming!

[@HovingtonInstruments]

Yes, I sent you an email the day I received them and mentioned you at the end of this video showing the pieces. 😊 Thanks again

[@res00xua]

Very nice of you to donate that difficult to source part of this amazing project.

[@wimvanmoerbeke]

on the hammer 50 you can put around the wood a thread to strengthen it, glued with fishbone glue or bone glue (which comes off easy with slightly hot water)

[@HovingtonInstruments]

Thanks for the tips, will definitely try the UV for the Ivory. In regards to sanding, I ran this by my piano technician and he said it is common practice. I really didn’t remove much weight by flattening the end bit. I heard about adding a tread but what kind of tread is it? Just tread from the fabric store?? Thanks for taking the time to add comments 👍

[@wimvanmoerbeke]

@@HovingtonInstruments yes a common cotton thread or other fabric which is strong and would exist in 1874. You should wind it tightly around the broken area with very little glue. For the sanding I know many do it, but the more recent and logical step would be bending the wood, especially with hammer shanks, rather then taking off material which isnt possible to replace. But no worries.

[@unequally-tempered]

Brilliant documentation of the action - but dismal tuning. Really a shame to do this video with such a horrible sound at the end. Here's a restrung 1869 cottage grand broadwood. kzbin.info/www/bejne/hp7Yh5ymj7KggZI The gauge of the bass strings is normally put on small round labels on the felt next to the agraffes. The pitch was not 432. Broadwood "medium" pitch was A=445 and high pitch 455! It will sound much better at 440 or 445 and used the current string gauge as fitted. Here kzbin.info/www/bejne/pIvFoIJuh86oiaM is a Broadwood of 1881 with original strings which only on account of age prefer 436. At pitches lower than 442 to 444 you'll get false beats in the treble.

[@johngrant5749]

Just for info Tomy, the 1s 6d on the blue ticket stubb is 1 Shilling and 6 pence (1 shilling = 12 pence, 20/- or 20 shillings to a pound) roughly equivalent to 15 pence or pennies in our present decimal currency, probably around 20 cents.

[@HovingtonInstruments]

Thanks for sharing the information... That’s really cool! 20cents:)

[@johngrant5749]

Just currently trying to find Frank Hubert’s details. Carpenter aged 26, born in Jersey, Great Britain, 1881 living with his wife Cecilia and family Winifred 3 and Charles 1. Living at 22 Burrage Road West Plumstead, Greenwich London just a mile or two from the Broadwood Horseferry road piano factory in Westminster London.

[@HovingtonInstruments]

WoW!! That’s Soooo cool! I found 2 more names today , I’ll share them in the next video. Awesome that you spent the time to look into it...

[@johngrant5749]

@@HovingtonInstruments look forward to it. 👍

[@res00xua]

I am enjoying this series. What did you pay for this beautiful instrument? If you don’t mind that is.

[@HovingtonInstruments]

Glad you are enjoying the restoration. I unfortunately will not disclose the purchase price.. But I will keep track of the restoration costs and will be happy to share those...

[@qwaqwa1960]

Interesting. I'm working on a very similar model, from 1866. The action is a bit different, but close.

[@HovingtonInstruments]

Apparently they kept using this kind of action for 100+ years… not much adjustment on these.

[@qwaqwa1960]

​@@HovingtonInstruments How's it going? Q: Have you settled on a key-dip? (now that I have the action on my bench, I notice the dip is currently 12 mm!!!! Yikes. Fortunately I don't think it'll take too much effort to get things into sensible shape. 8-9 mm??)

[@qwaqwa1960]

@@HovingtonInstruments Also, did you know there's a downloadable PhD thesis about B'wood's history which has some useful technical info? I don't think KZbin allows external URLs. Search "alastair laurence broadwood"-it'll be near the top.

[@chriswareham]

For a split second at the start of the video I thought you had a polar bear asleep on the floor!

[@984francis]

Those hammers probably have enough felt left that an expert could reshape and voice them. This is standard technique but I would make sure I get somebody whose work is liked by pianists.

[@HovingtonInstruments]

Yes, my piano technician and I had a look at them and the mid section has some flat spots but the treble and Bass seems fine. We might need to make a few adjustments on the mid section but my wife will decide on this matter after the strings and soundboard is done. If she likes the sound then she mentioned she didn’t want to touch them yet. Keep the original one as long as possible means to wait a bit longer before reshaping these..

[@jamesstanlake4064]

Impressive despite having to modernize the instrument.

[@wimvanmoerbeke]

I was liking your restoration work until you started sanding the wood. It would be better to heat the wood and curve it... Because the balance of the keys is important