Flexiphone Keyboard Build [Part 1/2] - Action & Cabinet

I've got so many instruments & instrument parts hoarded, it's time to start using them!

I've always had an idea to make a keyboard instrument that could be transposed. There are some harmoniums that do this by moving the action either left or right (one half step flat or sharp). I decided to achieve this by instead making the chromatic sounding parts moveable.

Having a moveable/removable chromatic sounding piece has the added benefit of being able to swap in and out different devices to play on the same keyboard. For example, I have a set of saucer bells, a set of glockenspiel bars, a set of chromatic chimes; these could all be made into a plate that can be placed on top of the instrument and played with the same action rather than building a specific instrument for each of them. This will make more sense in part 2.

For this video, I make the action and cabinet portion of the instrument. The action is from a Rhodes 88 key stage piano that was parted out. The cabinet is made from black walnut with ebony and maple splines. Spline jig build here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMHmEpqePdY

I really tried to incorporate the imagery of music & keyboards into the cabinet design since it would be many different instruments in the end. So the splines are laid out to resemble a keyboard with its white and black keys, the brackets that hold on the tops are laid out like the black keys of a keyboard, the F holes in the top piece are very commonly found on a variety of instruments, and so forth.

► Enable closed captions for commentary.

► GIF image gallery of the build here:
https://imgur.com/a/oABeA

► SUBSCRIBE : https://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=measuredworkshop

► INSTAGRAM: http://instagram.com/measuredworkshop

Видео Flexiphone Keyboard Build [Part 1/2] - Action & Cabinet канала Measured Workshop