The 1893 Julius Bauer

[MICHAEL MORVAN]

Dale,
    Nice pictures, don't let the United States Navy see that cast iron plate, they'll want it for an anchor. Are you duplicating the original soundboard with the ribs as they are?    Mike

Michael A. Morvan
Blackstone Valley Piano
Dedicated To Advancing The Art Of Keyboard Restoration
76 Sutton Street
Uxbridge, Ma. 01569
(508) 278-9762
Keymaestro at verizon.net
www.pianoandorgankeys.com                                                                                              
www.thepianorebuilders.com
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: erwinspiano at aol.com 
  To: pianotech at ptg.org ; erwinspiano at aol.com 
  Sent: Sunday, March 02, 2008 10:56 AM
  Subject: The 1893 Julius Bauer



  Hi All
    Dennis & I finally tore down the  Julius Bauer 6 ft. A truly amazing piece of engineering from antiquity. I have such respect for this man. Analyzing his pianos sound board system & how it is constructed is truly fascinating. I consider him as much a pioneer (wild man) as Jonas Chickering.  Out side the box
     The entire soundboard system is not attached to the case but to the massive plate.  The plate in turn is fastened/screwed to the case...... The board & belly rail are one unit & is attached to the case  only by pivot a screw on each side. As seen in picture 2 the keybed is removed,held in place by dowels & screws, yet un-glued. The beautiful maple belly rail is not attached to the keybed when assembled but is separated from it by only a mm gap. In  picture 2 imagine lifting up on the back of the sound board. It moves & sits only on a block attached to the case.
    The sound boards laminated oak liner captures the edge of the soundboard firmly around it's perimeter & because of the Julius design it forces crown in to the board both across the grain as usual but significantly along the grain as well. The entire structure displays a real dished looking shape. This is seen  by the overall view in picture 4 & by viewing the head on picture of the belly rail. Stretching a string along the belly rail reveals a massive 15 mm of crown deflection from bass to treble.
    Also the treble & bass ends of the bridge rise to stay in the string plane as the board takes a dive due to the crown enhancement features of this design.
    It's a huge bridge. The result in mass will increase impedance/sustain. The bridge itself is over 2 inches tall at the treble end & 1 & 13/16 th  in the middle.  It is close to 2 inches tall in the bass. This tall bridge structure appears to build in a great deal of soundboard stiffness much like a beam.
    It has a Wessel nickel & gross action. The case is a beautiful Walnut veneer.
    I have many pictures from the bottom side as well I can post later.  It has a straight short bass cut-off bar & no support beams. It doesn't need them.
    We will probably display this novel & intriguing piano when completed 
     Dale Erwin
    Double Clicking on the picture should enlarge them for better viewing. I'm using a new format & the learning curve is still......goin on
   
    





   
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