Electric piano stand/enclosure

[Halo Jones]

For my FILs 70th in September we bought him an electric piano/organ. My wife wasn't entirely happy as it was just a standard plastic box type keyboard and didn't really fit in with the rest of his furniture. I was therefore "commissioned" to make a stand/enclosure for it. A bit nervous because this is my first crack at a proper piece of furniture. It looks like it might just about be working out so I am daring to post a WIP. Also nervous about this as despite following this and other woodworking forums since approx 2010 this is my first WIP!

Looking at lots of stands for electric pianos we decided that we would use this as our inspiration - the Roland Kiyola:

I am not doing anything quite as ambitious but it is the inspiration.

Started with some sketches before moving onto a full size drawing - using my children's lego to work out where the hinge for the top needed to be!

Then I made a cut list:

Before heading to the timber yard. I have used this timber yard before but always placed an order and just picked up. I was advised this time that I should just turn up and choose my timber. I was a bit overwhelmed to be honest but I was left to my own devices and after 90 mins I loaded the car and ended up with:

I rough cut this:

Finding all the defects that I hadn't spotted at the yard and started worrying that I didn't have enough timber:

but there was some nice quarter sawn pieces.

I then set about prepping all the timber with so much enthusiasm that I I completely filled the CamVac and killed one of the motors . Anyhoo, I was left with:

More to follow!

 

[Halo Jones]

Sorry for the lack of updates. Turning the house from a building site to something we could host Christmas in took longer than I ever thought possible.

Before I continue with the wip I was hoping for some emergency advice. The side panels / leg assembly has been glued up for 4-5 weeks and had been sanded to 240 etc ready for finishing. I went to look at them today to reference a part for the top and two of the legs have developed shakes - both on the show face #-o

The wood from the legs came from a 100 x 100 mm oak, already dressed. Moisture content was 7-8%. This was split into 4 of 50 x 50 leg blanks before all the joinery took place the wood that was on the cut faces were reading 8-9% so I thought they would be stable enough.

How / when should I fix these? Do I let the shakes develop until I don't see any more movement? Then do I epoxy resin the shakes or use a colour matching wax?

Help more than welcome!

 

[bugbear]

Roland Kiyola

BugBear

 

[dzj]

Generally, wood of such quality should be avoided.
But, it is what it is.
The best thing to do would be to replace the members with healthy wood.
If this is out of the question, then yes, some kind of stainable filler or wax is in order.
One way of dealing with the wider cracks, is to saw a kerf with a gents or DT saw and glue in a sliver
of matching oak or veneer. In the smaller cracks put some superglue and sand it while wet/ drying.
It's a bit of a mug's game, cause if it continues to shrink, your work's in vain.
Whichever way you choose test it first on off cuts.
Good luck.

 

[Halo Jones]

Bugbear. Not sure what to say. Are you just suggesting I go and buy one?

dzj - I guess judging whether a piece of wood is good or not is all part of the skill. All three legs came out of the same piece of wood and two of them are absolutely fine and one only has a fine shake. I guess I should have left them longer to climatise after the rough cutting. The worst shake has been glued and the rest left to see if they develop over time. I used hide glue so things can be taken apart and remade if it is really necessary.

 

[Halo Jones]

So, on with the show. I thought I had taken lots of pictures when building but apparently not. Sorry if things jump about a bit.

The first step was marking out all the joinery and making all the mortices, followed by tapering the legs. This meant making a tapering jig. It worked but the hold down clamps were a little undersized - when I opened the package I felt like I was in the scene of This is Spinal Tap when their stone henge arrives :lol:

The end panels were then made and assembled, and a dry fit of the long rails.

The top is sloped so the end panels were cut to the correct angle and the some internal components were added The lower piece is what the piano actually sits on and the upper piece is for the lid to sit on when open.

Checking that everything fits:

The next stage was to fit the top properly and install the piano hinges.

and a finally dry fit before finishing everything:

Got to use my scrapers that I got as a Christmas present. First time I have sharpened and used these. I thought it was great at removing tear-out but I can't say it left a finished surface. Everthing still had to be sanded to 240 grit:

Finished piece (Not the best photos):

Luckily my FIL believes in the 12 days of Christmas as this was delivered on the 12th day! Only the end panels are glued at the moment as it's final resting place will be in the south of France where my FIL spends 4-5 months of every year warming his bones.

There are lots of little flaws but overall I am pleased how it turned out (actually I am just chuffed I managed to finish it!). I think LOML is also a little impressed as she has conceded I can build a few more items for the house

 

[thetyreman]

=D> that's impressive, I might have to build something similar for my midi keyboard that I use in my studio, I bet it feels solid, really nice work!

 

[bugbear]

Bugbear. Not sure what to say. Are you just suggesting I go and buy one?

You image wasn't showing, so I found another version, so people would understand what you were saying.

YOUR stand looks great!

BugBear

 

[novocaine]

I will not be showing this to my MIL, just in case.

here very nice, very expensive and very no longer made, no spare parts, tough poop technics electrical piano isn't very well, if it can't be sorted she's buying a touch sensitive keyboard.

looks top notch Mr Halo, a job well done.

 

[Halo Jones]

You image wasn't showing, so I found another version, so people would understand what you were saying.

Ah. didn't realise. It seems to work for me. Although since the demise of photobucket there are more and more new posts whose images I cannot see. I guess the forum software handles all the new sources slightly differently.

Oh. And thanks for the compliment

 

[MusicMan]

Nice job. It's important that keyboards are on a solid base; players hate those X-shaped things which wobble whenever they are played hard. Yours looks both stable and elegant.

 

[Halo Jones]

It's important that keyboards are on a solid base; players hate those X-shaped things which wobble whenever they are played hard.

FIL was the church organist until a few years ago and knows how to bang the keys so anything I made had to be sturdy! The thing that made me sweat the most in the design stages was deciding the finished height of the keys and the depth of the front rail as I know this can really affect how it plays.

 

[MusicMan]

It's important that keyboards are on a solid base; players hate those X-shaped things which wobble whenever they are played hard.

FIL was the church organist until a few years ago and knows how to bang the keys so anything I made had to be sturdy! The thing that made me sweat the most in the design stages was deciding the finished height of the keys and the depth of the front rail as I know this can really affect how it plays.

True, but the seat is adjustable in height as organists don't come in one size!

 

[custard]

There are lots of little flaws but overall I am pleased how it turned out (actually I am just chuffed I managed to finish it!). I think LOML is also a little impressed as she has conceded I can build a few more items for the house

Congratulations, that looks a really professional job. And full credit for putting the effort in up front with a carefully drawn plan and a full cutting list.

=D>

I'm sorry you experienced timber problems, I've posted recently on another thread that Oak quality in particular seems to be declining. The cause seems to be that it's being forced through the drying/kilning process faster and faster in an effort to cut costs. In your particular case I'd at least take some comfort that the inherent strength of Oak means you can stand quite a few shakes before structural integrity is even remotely challenged.

Once again, well done on an excellent job.

 

[AES]

Very well done indeed Sir. You must be "mighty proud", and rightly so IMO.

=D>

AES