Monday, July 5, 2010

Opus IV Keyboard: All has not been lost

With a bit of patience and perseverance, I have successfully restored the keyboard and keyframe, which was badly damaged due to a flooded workshop.
The walnut keytops and cherry arcades have been re-glued to the levers, and with the installation of the walnut cheek-blocks, key cloth and keyframe front molding, it is now ready for installation.
It was necessary for me to adopt a different attitude and mindset in the restoration of this once finished and perfectly functioning keyboard, which I had considered to be the finest I had yet built.
Having done countless restorations of keyboards and keyframes from harpsichords,  clavichords, virginals and fortepianos, as well those from modern pianos,  this was a project that I simply had to approach as yet another restoration of a damaged keyboard, setting aside the frustration I felt with having to restore a keyboard I had so recently completed.