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Hi, I bought a Bluthner Grand 1902 model.
It has had some work done on it and not very well done.
I do have a few questions about the fixing of the paino.
1. Where was the original serial number printed on the harp?
2. What font was used?
3. Can I use Diligent Pin block material to repair the pin blcok

Hello, you better ask those directly at the Bluethner factory, they will answer you, after some time ...

Send them pics if you can.. Delignit certainly differs from the original pinblock and is less active, tonally speaking, but will it make such a difference on an anyway old piano ? the block could be repaired and not changed, possibly.

1)If the number is not on the plate, it can usually be found on the back side of the fallboard, written in pencil.
2)Which font where, for what? I don't think you will find any modern computer fonts to exactly replicate anything on a 110 year old piano.
3) How exactly were you planning to "repair" the pin block with Delignit?

The serial number was stamped in the SB decal and inside of the keybed in the right side of the belly rail.
Delignit planks are wonderful for any kind of pinblocks.
All the best,

Delignit is a quality material.
However, it is
- difficult to work
- hard on edge tools
- unforgiving in drilling tolerances for screws or tuning pins
- a questionable replacement material for use in a vintage piano

2) The Harp has been painted and the sound board repaired, so wanted to know what type of font was used to write the serial number on either the sound board or the harp.

3) I wanted to replace the old pin block with a new one made from Deligint.

I found the serial number on the board behind the action and on the lyre stand. There are also numerous pencil written serial numbers.

Hi,

I think the pin block is passed the useful stage.
A person who tried to tune the piano before I bought it has used vener shims inside the tuning pin holes and then tried to tune it. This has not worked.

The pin block has also sagged a little in the bass string area.

The action also needs a lot of setting up. I have replaced all the jack springs and the keys now have a more uniform feel to them now.

Am going to replace the hammers as the ones in there now are not all striaght or perpendicular to the strings.

I am planning to scan the back of the harp where the pin block sits with a 3D scanner. Then take the scan to a 3D milling machine and get them to mill me the pin block in one piece from Deligint.

This should give me an exact fit of the Deligint into the harp.

All I need to do is make sure the down bearing is correct.

I think Delignit is a bad pin block material and I agree with the points from Jurgen.
It would be much better to use this Canadian pin block material. I don't remember the name of it.

Your words are a little ventured... Delignit is the favorite pinblock material for A. Reblitz, for example, as well as the most european/german brands, as Blüthner actually. Even Fazioli use it in the most of its grands.
Hope this help you.

Bolduc

I have a late model Blüthner here and it is not Delignit. I would not recommend this product for a vintage instrument.

A pinblock serves one purpose, to hold the pins against the tension of the strings while allowing them to be tuned properly. If you are experienced with Delignit, it should be fine. If you are not, you should not be trying it out on a good piano. Are you aware that you need to build up the pinblock?

a bit more than what stated here, in my opinion

May be it is before German unification?
I visited Blüthner factory 4 years ago and it was what I saw.
You can find this afirmation also by google...
Please, can you explain me why you (also) don't recommend it in vintage pianos? (I have recently use it in an 115 years old full restore Bechstein grand and I can say you that, for the moment, it's the most stable and easy to tune that I have never found).

[quote=Silverwood PianosI have a late model Blüthner here and it is not Delignit. I would not recommend this product for a vintage instrument.[/quote]

The Reblitz book is well over thirty years old by now, and is no longer the gospel on many things. There were no real alternatives to Delignit way back then. We have come a long way....

You speak from your experience, lluiscl. That is a good thing. (There is not nearly enough of that here sometimes) Now I have to ask about that:
How many Delignit pinblocks have you installed?
Have you installed any other type of pin block?
Which ones, and how many?
How do the different block materials compare for you, in installation and in use?

Delignit was developed many decades ago. Back then almost no one was installing pin blocks in rebuilds. It was designed as an industrial material, and taken up by manufacturers of new pianos. Industrial production can easily be adjusted to account for the drawbacks that this material has - they have huge machines with carbide tools, precision jugs or CNC workstations etc.

The material is surely stable enough for any piano, and when done properly, the piano will tune quite nicely. More and more technicians are opting to use more authentic materials and parts in their rebuilding.

Proper insertion of a pinblock in a vintage German grand is quite tricky because of how the pinblocks are morticed into the sides of the case. The case is essentially built up around the pin block. Vintage Steinways are different - the block drops in from the top.

Jurgen. Reblitz also speak about hard maple or Falconwood pinblocks in his old book... Actually no only Blüthner or Fazioli if not Bechstein, Sauter, Grotrian, August Förster and (I think also) Bösendorfer use it. All top brands.
Less tolerance than Bolduc-hard maple ones? For sure, but beech was mainly the material used in the old european pinblocks, so rebuilding them with same (multilaminated) material seems to me not the worst acoustical solution.
I have heard also of rebuilders using it in Steinways ones!!
In my recent Bechstein in particular I didn't replace all the morticed one, if not (structure was fine) I reblock the full tuning pin areas with 4 Delignit planks, glued them with Western epoxy. Drilling it was not traumatic, but I inserted the tuning pins screwing down... (to avoid at least 15 hammer big hits x pin).
All the best,

Pinblocks have no acoustic properties to speak of.

There are a few great pin block stock materials available. I think it's really what the rebuilder is familiar and comfortable with.