The fortepiano Workshop
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Pease note:
All prices are without packing and shipping costs; they will be added to your order once we pack it but we will give you an approximate. There is a minimum order of £25, excluding the postage. Please send your orders and enquiries to cesar@fortepiano.co.uk or use the form below.
Wound Strings for fortepianos and clavichords
We are the strings specialists. All the covered strings are made to order in our workshop. Open wound strings for square pianos £19.80. This price is for the typical 12 turns per inch from 0.75 mm (or thinner) core and cover 0.48 mm (or thinner). For thicker gauges please ask for price. Close wound strings for square pianos £24.80. Close wounds strings for grand fortepianos £26.85. Plain brass string £7.95. Plain iron string £6.30. For orders of whole sets of bass and plain strings, I can offer free of charge spare strings or a small discount. Please see more information and instructions for ordering in our section Strings.
Calculation of string gauges for a full instrument £84.00. Not sure what diameters for your restoration do you need? I will calculate an appropriate tension, and suggest the alloy and type of strings for the period of your instrument. Instructions for ordering a string chart calculation can be downloaded through this link. String calculations will be sent in a Word file (.docx), not by post.
Wool green action cloth and red hitch-pin worsted bearing cloth (Broadwood Type). Researched and commissioned by Graham Walker, this cloth is the closest subsitute (virtually identical) to cloth present in British early keyboards.
Also, White damper cloth for squares and grands. Click here to download more information and prices.
SeccotineTM glue. We are owners of the trade brand Seccotine. The best reversible adhesive for repairs. More information here.
£14.00 for 120 ml, £41.50 for 500 ml, £65 for 1 kg, plus shipping. (The presentation of the bottle may change)
Hammer hinge leather. The right leather for square piano hinge repairs. Glue it with Seccotine. Each Strip allows enough leather to re-hinge one sets of hammers for a 6.5 ocatves square piano. Approx size: 1000 mm x 25 mm. 1 mm thick. £13 plus shipping.
Wooden leg thread. Wooden leg thread. Made in beech, the threaded part is 1+ 3/8 inch (36mm) in diameter with a pitch of three turns per inch. The bottom part is turned to one inch for inserting into a one inch hole drilled into the leg. This is best done with a lathe to keep everything straight. Customary in British pianofortes for most of the 19th century. Can be used also to repair other furniture. Glue it with Seccotine. £20 each plus shipping.
Broadwood replica tuning hammer. Made in solid brass and cromed, with a hook for emergency eye-making, for oblong wrest pins. See full dimensions here. £90.00 plus shipping.
Hygrometer. Never allow your instruments to be in a too dry or too humid room. Monitor the Relative Humidity with this cheap but reliable hygrometer. Hygrometers do not last forever, as dust gets into the element that read the humidity; please replace them every four years. This model also shows time, calendar and temperature. Works with one AAA battery. £10 plus shipping.
The Piano-Forte, by Rosamund Harding. A new hardback copy of the history of the piano up to 1851. Plenty of historical and technical data, this is the second (and last) edition by the author in 1978 (55 years after the firt edition!). This is ofter referred as 'the pianoforte bible'. £15 per book plus shipping.
Original recycled parts.
We have a few original parts saved from scrapped pianos, like a set of wrest pins (tuning pins) from a 1790s square, a Clementi c1815 baffle (cover), two French stands (unrestored but usable as they are). Brass 'peacock' curved dampers also available. Please enquire if you need any of these.
Custom hand-made wrest pins. Custom hand-made wrest pins in iron. In the photo on the left a 'bad' wrest pin from an 1980's restoration, on the right a replica. Prices vary on dimensions and quantity.
The small print:
When ordering strings, please state the eyes length, which is commonly between 25 and 50 mm. The earliest the piano, the shorter the eye, normally.
If you have to send old strings to copy them from North America, be aware that if you declare a value on them for insurance purposes, I will be charged an import tax, which will have to be charged to you subsequently.
Shipments will be made once the money has been cleared.
Payments can be made through PayPal (but please add the 5% comission that they charge) or WISE (similar to PayPal but cheaper commission) or bank transfer. PayPal users: be sure that your address in your PayPal account is the actual one). Bank transfers from North America may require an extra comission of 5% (and they will charge a big commission to you), so we strongly recommend using WISE or PayPal. Please send your enquiries for your orders to: cesar@fortepiano.co.uk or fill in the form below.