10. THE BOARD AND THE FRAME...

Published on 27. May 2013 by Johannes Huefken

In the last few weeks we have produced the keyboard frame and the keyboard panel. Today the two are to be brought together. However, the performer should be asleep, because the next work should be done without a long break. As we learned in the last article, the wood is in motion. The keyboard panel corresponds to a board, which is about 40cm long and 90cm wide. Even small fluctuations in humidity cause a significant change in width with such a wide board with annual rings on top.

Sawing the board to size
Marking the keyboard guides
Fixing the panel to the keyboard frame
Drilling

1. saw the board to size

The keyboard panel is now sawn to size. You have to determine beforehand how the keyboard fronts are designed. If small front plates are to be glued on later, the thickness of the plates must be deducted from the panel depth. From this point on, work should be done away one after the other. Because now the keyboard has the final size.

2. mark the holes for the keyboard pins

The drawing must be firmly stretched on the board. The pins for the key guide are now pierced through the drawing with a pin. This marking is also centring for the drill, which drills precisely from the beginning without slipping. There are two pens for each button. With a two-armed key, one usually sits on the balance beam, the other can guide the key at the front or rear.

Mark the balance beam pins with a mandrel

The board is fitted to the keyboard frame

3. fix the panel on the keyboard frame

Now the panel is aligned and fixed to the keyboard frame. This can be done with small clamps or small screws.

Drilling the guide pins

4. drilling

Now drill into the keyboard frame through the panel, which is later sawn to the individual keys. Drilling is so large that the guide pins fit tightly, but also do not split the frame when they are later driven in close together. I recommend an attempt to do this beforehand. Now we can take a break. If a width change were to take place in the panel, this would have no effect on the position of the keys on the keyboard frame. Only the spaces between the keys could be slightly larger or smaller.

In the next article, I would like to introduce you to the various keycoverings, among other things.