Gluing the Keyframe

If you cut your dados and rabbets to the right depth, the balance rail should be proud of the stiles by 7/16” [11mm ] and the back rail should be 1/8” [3mm] higher than the top of the stiles. When you're satisfied that all is well, glue the keyframe together, making sure to keep it square.



Preparing to Drill.

Now that the keyframe has been glued and assembled, it’s time to drill the 51 balance rail holes and the 51 back rail holes. Of course, these holes must line up absolutely perfectly with the corresponding holes we will drill into the keyboard. The only way to be certain that these holes line up perfectly is to drill the holes in the keyframe and the keyboard at the same time. This way, if a hole is drilled slightly off center, it will be off-center in the keyframe as well as on the keyboard blank, and the key will function perfectly. So all we have to do is place the keyboard blank on top of the keyframe – making certain that the keyboard blank is sitting in the proper position on the keyframe – attach the keyboard blank to the keyframe so it can’t move out of position – and drill all the holes through the keyboard blank and into the balance rail and back rail. Here’s how to do it.