“Keys to My Heart” & “Music for My Ears”

For Christmas I received the documentary “Note by Note – The Making of Steinway L1037”. If you have not seen it I highly recommend it. As a woodworker you will greatly appreciate the work that goes into one of these beautiful concert pianos. I had flashbacks of the documentary when I read that the Winter Awards theme was jewelry. I really wanted to design a piano theme into a jewelry piece. “Keys to My Heart” is the necklace design I came up with. I also came up with a pair of earrings that are called “Music for My Ears”. I know…I like naming things.

The necklace is made from African Blackwood and Holly. The keys are laid out and shaped exactly like a real keyboard. The “beads” where made from taking 10 pieces of African Blackwood. First drill a hole through the length of the part. Second, cut them in half on the scroll saw splitting them into two grand piano shaped beads. That makes them lock together perfectly. Third I tape them to a fixture and round over the tops on a belt sander. After that it is all rasps and sandpaper to round all the edges. All the individual pieces of “Keys to My Heart” were polished using a Beall polishing system. As a pretreatment I soaked the Holly in Minwax Wood hardener and let it dry to give it a clear sealer. I didn’t want to use anything that would yellow it.

I started the earrings by making a glue up of 11 alternating layers of Black Walnut veneer and creating a ¼” thick custom plywood. I then cut out the Treble Clef design on the scroll saw. I made a fixture to hold the earrings so I could create a radius on both sides of the earrings on the belt sander…basically making them fat in the middle and thin on the edges. After that I curved all the sharp edges using a rotary carving tool, rasps and sandpaper. I ebonized the earrings using India ink. Finish on “Music for My Ears” is hand wiped poly. They are actually very light and comfortable to wear.

I wanted something nice to display the necklace on so I picked up a black neck/torso stand from a craft store. I reupholstered it in gray fabric and made the Black Walnut cap to hold the earrings.

I need to thank three people who helped me during this process:

Joel Alonzo for taking beautiful pictures once again!

My sister-in-law Lynn for showing me the finer points of necklace and earring assembly!

The beautiful Olivia for posing with my creations….simmer down gents…she is like a daughter to me:-) She is now the new owner of both pieces. It makes me very happy that she loves them.

I took a couple pics while making the two pieces and inserted them below.

Now lets make some more sawdust!

-- Jeff , Illinois Please...can I stay in the basement a little longer, please!