Apprentices' project: Reconstruction of a bentside spinet by J. H. Silbermann, 1767

During apprenticeship the traditional craft is learned by means of our apprentices' project, the autonomous building of a replica of a Silbermann bentside spinet (1767)

See here for the finished project and the historical context

Nachbau unseres Instituts eines Querspinetts nach Johann Heinrich Silbermann, 1767/One of the replicas made in our institute

The instrument has a spruce baseboard with oak angles which require various box and tenon joints. Bases of oak and spruce for the soundboard are inserted into these angles.

Unterboden/baseboard

Winkelkonstruktion / angles of oak

The oak walls are veneered with hand sawn walnut.

The soundboard is made of fine grain hazel spruce and is planed to a thickness of 2.5 to 3.5 mm before being inserted and applied with ribs and bridges.

The keyboard is constructed following Dom Bedos, then cut from a board of linden and applied with ebony, blackened pear, and bone.

Klaviaturplatte mit aufgerissener Teilung/ linden board with marked saw lines

Klaviaturplatte mit Tastenbelägen der Untertasten - vor dem Aussägen/lower key covers before sawing

The jacks are made of pear with tongues of maple, the traditional spring is an inserted pig bristle.