COVER STORY | PIANO DESIGN
A conventional wooden
soundboard is generally between
6mm and 9mm. Dain says: “We
got a computer programme that
analysed the stiffness and response
of the soundboard. It the FEA cost a
fortune!”
This process showed that the
outstanding parameter in offering
more natural frequencies was the
thickness of the soundboard. This
led Phoenix to experiment with
carbon fibre soundboards. Says
Dain: “We got the soundboard down
to a thickness of less than 1mm
and we got some wonderful sound
frequencies.” The eventual thickness
that was settled on, however, was
1.25mm.
Other innovations have included
the development of a carbon fibre
frame for a piano, which reduces the
weight hugely. This has been built
and is in the company’s workshop
but is not yet commercially available.
However, it was demonstrated as
being remarkably easy to lift.
The Kevlar soundboard has
already been installed. According to
Dain it “sounds closer to a wooden
soundboard – but is much cheaper”.
The most recent major
technological development from the
company, however, came when Dain
turned his attention to improving the
inherent limitations of the traditional
hammer assembly. A piano’s hammer
assembly comprises a ‘hammer
RICHARD DAIN –
RENAISSANCE MAN
Richard Dain is a man of impressive engineering
pedigree and has a distinguished family history. His
grandfather engineered the public water supply
to Derby; the eldest of his uncles was a Deputy
Viceroy of India; the younger uncle was responsible
for the building of the Calcutta tramways.
After graduating from Cambridge, his first post
was at Ruston & Hornsby in Lincolnshire, as part
of a team who had worked with Sir Frank Whittle
to develop the UK jet engine. He went on to form
an engineering consultancy with Sir Hugh Ford,
simultaneously establishing Powdrex, a global
powdered steel supplier.
Today, despite being officially ‘retired’ and 92
years of age, he runs Phoenix Pianos and has a
successful business producing Kentish Cobnut Oil.
His work has been in development of:
■ Gas turbine, Rotary and Diesel engines
■ Rail traction (tilting trains and HS225)
■ Mining and Metallurgy by Solvent Extraction
for recovery of copper and uranium from lean
sources
■ Chemical and Oil refinery plant
■ Fertiliser plant for phosphate, ammonia and
Lime fertilisers:
■ Agricultural machinery – such as very deep
ploughing and powered surface cultivators
■ Grape harvesters and nut processing machines
■ Iron and steel making including continuous
casting and tool steel powder metallurgy
■ Food processing machines for fish and bread
industries
■ Road Transport Refrigeration units
■ Ammonia and methane production plant
and their associated massive industrial
compressors
■ High-temperature steam reforming furnaces
for producing industrial quantities of hydrogen
flange’ - the part that is fixed in
place within the overall action – a
hinged shank – which defines the
flightpath of the hammer - and the
hammer itself. The flange, shank and
hinge are traditionally made from
hornbeam, a type of hardwood that
when well finished is very smooth
and often compared to ivory.
Although relatively strong,
hornbeam is prone to changes in
temperature and humidity, like all
other woods. It is also difficult to
produce with consistent material
properties: no two pieces are quite
the same. Over time shanks can
warp and drift and require regulation
adjustments if a piano is to respond
uniformly, predictably and with even
sound.
No matter how good the regulation
of a traditional wooden hammer
assembly, the shanks, which are
typically about 6mm in diameter and
13cm in length, flex considerably
when under the duress of energetic
playing. The hammer wobbles from
side to side, and twists chaotically as
it is accelerated towards the strings,
causing irregular strikes.
14 WWW.EUREKAMAGAZINE.CO.UK | JULY 2019
/WWW.EUREKAMAGAZINE.CO.UK