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 News
 February 2010
I decided it was about time I updated this 'blog'...
Clearly
a lot has happened since I last wrote anything here. Most of our
practical work at college this year takes the form of a project, which
is the rebuilding of an upright piano, one piano per group of three or
four. I am working with Stuart, Tom and Kleanthis on an instrument
dating from 1931 (according to the foundry date cast into the frame).
There was no maker's name apparent, so we have decided to call it the Weinstain - a
combination of 'Steinway' (which it certainly isn't) and wine stain,
which it looked like when we started work - a tasteful black and purple
finish.
We have now got back to a reasonably original oak (it's
mostly solid oak) and have started to stain the casework in preparation
for polishing. The soundboard has been repaired and re-polished, the frame has been resprayed black and gold, and the
strings have all been replaced. The action needs some work - we have
started replacing the damper felts, the hammers are in good condition -
just a little refacing required - but there will be some re-centring to
do, as well as replacement of tapes, balance leathers etc.
I am
working on my days away from college at the busy workshop of Phil
Taylor, a local piano technician, who has kindly agreed to provide work experience for myself and
Gavin Crooks, a friend and colleague from college. I'm currently rebuilding the
action of a Broadwood grand dating from about 1870, which is a novel
experience.
June 2009
The
end of term - already! As predicted by course tutor John in January the
last six months have passed incredibly quickly. We sat our written exam
a couple of weeks ago, followed by an informal celebration. Then on the
last Tuesday of term we had the end of year tuning test, also followed
by a celebration. The last day of term was spent tying up loose ends
and saying goodbye to Tony, who may not be returning in September.
Geoff, speaking on our behalf, thanked John for his efforts during the
year. Will we have the same premises in 10 weeks time? Will the roof be
mended? Watch this space.
May 2009
Well
- the PTA convention in Hereford last week was a bit of a disaster for
most of the Newark contingent! Geoff and I both had either food
poisoning or gastro-enteritis, Tracie didn't feel great either, so all
but Stuart and Ed headed home at lunch-time to lick our wounds. I
managed to find some useful regulating tools second-hand, but more
importantly failed to collect the Val Addis Award. Kevin Brice, our
class tutor for the day was also having health problems, so the whole
experience was somewhat surreal.
Late March 2009
This
is becoming quite a month! - I've been nominated to receive the Val
Addis Award, given in memory of the former secretary (for 27 years!) of
the Pianoforte Tuners Association to a Newark College student
nominated by our course tutor. I feel proud if slightly daunted by
this. My thanks to all concerned.
March 2009
Sailing news again... I have been awarded the coveted Viking Longship Trophy
for one of the cruise logs that I wrote (and re-wrote) last year - it
was one of the articles published in the winter edition of Wayfarer
News. The trophy was first awarded by the legendary Frank Dye
(whose hand I am proud to have shaken a couple of years ago); it's
now awarded by the previous recipient to the author of the log
they select as winner from those submitted during the year. I was
unable to attend the Dinghy Show, where the presentation was made, so
my friend Charles Ferrar kindly agreed to receive the trophy on my
behalf.
Late February 2009
Hmm... first sail of the season due this weekend, and no giant leap forward...
January 2009
Best
wishes for 2009! At college the long run into the June exam has begun,
but there's a lot to get through before then, as the majority of the
work is continuously assessed. Not too much sailing to distract me for
the next couple of months, so I should be able to make some good
progress, particularly with the tuning - the trick is to balance speed
with accuracy.
December 2008
More
sailing news - a couple of articles that appear here on this web-site
have been published in the current edition of 'Wayfarer News' - the
glossy magazine published for and by UKWA (UK Wayfarer Association) - my first published scrawlings in print, and two in the same edition, plus a photo in another article!
November 2008
A couple of interesting developments to report. First some
piano-related news, which is the skills challenge completed by our
student group, where we re-assembled a Broadwood grand piano from 1,000
pieces to a working instrument in a week and transported it across
Newark market place for a busking session in the Buttermarket, raising
a small sum for Children In Need. This was covered by the local newspaper and the College.
On the sailing side my friend Ton from the Netherlands has persuaded the legendary 'Uncle' Al Schonborn to publish a link to my Bartels Reefing article on his WIT website, and he has generously also linked to my logs of cruises in 'Cockle', our Wayfarer.
dbtuning.co.uk - Copyright 2008 ©
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