The Steinway & Sons New York Factory

Curing the Steinway Cabinet Takes Two Months

Rim-bending and Cabinet ClampingAfter the rim-bending process is complete, the glue sets up for 24 hours while the clamps are left in place. It is at this time that the cabinet receives its ID.

After the glue has set, each cabinet frame sits in place in the same room where it was first clamped. Each new cabinet is then moved into a warm, dry, dust-free room to wait for the various parts -- soundboard, plate, keys, strings, hammers, etc. -- that will transform the new cabinet frame into a working Steinway piano.

The curing process takes two months, all the while other workers prepare the parts that will go inside the cabinet, including the soundboard and the action.


 

 

 

Next >>Next: Preparing the Soundboard.

Text and Photography Sources

Photographs by Robert Callaghan, RPT

Barron, James. Piano: The Making of a Steinway Concert Grand. New York, Henry Holt and Company, LLC, 2006.

Closson, Ernest. History of the Piano. New York, St. Martin's Press, 1944.

Fletcher, Neville H. and Thomas D Rossing. The Physics of Musical Instruments. New York,Springer, 1998.

Loesser, Arthur. Men, Women and Pianos, A Social History. New York, Dover Publications, Inc., 1954.