Stopping the Squeaks on a Burghardt Scissor-Jack Piano Bench

With a good piano, decent microphones, a [Really] nice preamp, and a not-bad A/D converter, you'd hope that playing ability would be the only thing to prevent a good piano recording in a home studio…  Then you play back to find that the squeaking piano bench is louder than the all but the loudest passages. Judging from the numerous discussion threads on piano-related online forums, I presume it's a common problem.  I discovered a relatively simple solution that might be helpful to others.

My bench is an adjustable Burghardt with a "scissor jack" style lifting mechanism, but my squeak solution should be applicable to some other types of benches.

I searched online for some solutions:

• "Frequently tightening bolted joints." – Considering the bench came with its own wrench, the manufacturer must have been expecting this approach, but eventually it stops working.  It also only works for squeaks between the legs and apron board.
• "Ensuring the bench is upright, on a level surface before tightening leg bolts." – I loosened the leg bolts and tried, but there was no difference.
• "Putting Vaseline (or other lubricants) in wood-to-wood joints between apron and legs." – It seemed like this would be bad for the wood finish.
• "WD40 at various locations." – Also bad for the wood finish, and not a good long term solution.

As I was reading these aloud, my wife suggested inserting a piece of fabric into the joints, and offered a scrap of nylon. That's when I remembered I had a partial roll of Rockler "Nylo-Tape" from a furniture project.  Nylo-tape is adhesive-backed nylon tape. I had 3/4" wide × 10 mil thick on hand, which worked just right.

First, I removed the legs (keeping track of which goes where!) and applied short pieces of Nylo-tape to the ends of each apron board, where they bear against the legs.

Then I applied long strips of Nylo-tape between the the lifting mechanism and the two wooden frames.  I just cut them a little longer than needed, marked the backing with the position of each hole, and then used a standard handheld office paper punch to make holes for the screws in each strip of tape.  (I actually removed each frame from the mechanism in turn, rather than all at once, to make it easier to put back in the right orientation.)

I did not apply any Nylo-tape between the corner brackets and the apron, partly because the squeaking seemed to stop after the first round of fixes, and partly because I ran out of Nylo-tape.  If new squeaks develop there, I may have to apply some later:

Furniture Update: Studio Desk

Here's an update on the Foray into Furniture:

The first photo is an overall shot, including the CPU, Digi 003 rack interface, monitors and wall-mounted display. All the wood is cherry; the top is 3/4" plywood with veneer banding on the edges. The sides and back are 1/4" plywood. The CPU shelf is 1/4" solid cherry. The rest is solid cherry 1×2s. I used a tongue & groove router bit to make the simple rail, stile & panel construction. The slot cut for the panel also serves as a mortise for the rails. Some dowel joints were also used for the frame under the CPU and to attach the top. The finish is Tried & True oil finish, which is a polymerized linseed oil and beeswax product.

The drawer is made with birch plywood prefab drawer sides from Rockler (they come precut to width, with a routed groove for the bottom panel). I used an inexpensive Wolfcraft dovetail jig to make the drawer box. Side mount drawer glides attach to the upper rails. The only screws used are on the drawer glides and to attach the drawer front to the box.

A rectangular hole was required for the cables to pass through the top. The DVI connector for the video monitor is the longest and the IEC power connector was the widest. I dressed the opening with a custom rectangular grommet (somewhat visible in the photo) made from a scrap of cherry.

Mostly, everything works as planned, except that our low-noise CPU enclosure has a front door to cover the CD/DVD drives. The CPU tower has to be pushed forward so that the hinge of this door doesn't interfere with the leg of the desk.

This last photo is unrelated to the studio desk. This was a mini-project from the summer. I bought the clock movement with the intent of making some kind of desk clock. An ECC832 triode I ordered for an amplifier project arrived DOA and the dealer didn't ask for the defective one's return. I fashioned the clock loosely after a vintage radio and epoxied in the triode as a decoration.

Foray Into Furniture: Studio Desk

Have you ever seen a piece of furniture for the home recording studio that meets the following criteria?

1. Compact footprint for use in a small room.
2. Work surface elevated for comfortable use of keyboard & mouse while standing (with guitar strapped on).
3. Computer CPU elevated so that a vacuum cleaner can go under.
4. Enclosed sides to help contain CPU fan noise.
   
5. Includes a storage drawer.
6. No particleboard.
7. Looks nice.

Well, I'd never seen anything like that either, and we even had one of our equipment dealers hunting for it. Even relaxing requirements 6 and 7 left us with nothing. This means I have to build it.

I chose cherry wood and decided to do a simple rail, stile and panel construction for the sides and back, with an edged plywood top. The CPU shelf will be thin solid lumber.

A gap at the back will allow cables out to items at the floor level (power, audio monitors) and a grommet at the top will allow cables up to the video monitor (wall-mounted) and Digi 003 interface.

I've drawn it in CAD and started construction. Right now, all that's left to build is the drawer. Photos will follow soon.

Concertina Progress

Some of the woodwork is finally done. Here are progress photos:

Treble end:

The edges have been routed to receive guitar bindings. Unfortunately the router took off some chips of the surface veneer which will have to be repaired before the bindings can be attached. Holes on front will receive grommets.

Bass end:


Bellows frame:


Treble end with bellows frame, handle and palm rest (mock-up).


Valveboard:


Treble valveboard & reedblocks (mock-up):


Bass valveboard & reedblocks (mock-up):