The workshop
One Bench, One Lathe, Two Pairs of Hands
Ida opened Fynalto in 2003, after an apprenticeship and eight years tuning for a piano dealer. Mads joined as an apprentice in 2021.
The workshop is a long room with good light from the north, a bench down one side for actions and a clear floor for the pianos themselves. Tuning rounds run from Monday to Thursday, and Fridays are kept for the bench and for visitors who have booked a time.
The oddest machine in the room
The String Lathe
Bass strings are a steel core wound with copper, and every piano's bass is a little different. They are wound here, one at a time, on a lathe from 1964 that came from a workshop in Odense when it closed. It hums at almost exactly F sharp below middle C, which you stop hearing after a week and start hearing again the moment it is switched off.
Winding the strings here means an old piano gets bass strings made to its own scale, copied from the old ones before they come off, not the nearest size from a box.
For sale
Restored Pianos
Usually three to six in the workshop at a time, mostly uprights and now and then a small grand, each one restored here and ready to play.
- Restored uprightsfrom 24,000 DKKEach with its height, its year and a written list of what was done.
- Restored small grandsfrom 68,000 DKKWhen there is one. Most grands that come in belong to their owners.
- Delivery by a piano mover1,400 DKKWithin Aarhus; further afield on request.
Come and play them on a Friday, or on the first Saturday of the month, by appointment. Every piano sold here comes with two free tunings in its first year, the same as a restoration. To ask what is in the workshop now, write and say what you are looking for.
On the shelves
What Is Kept in Stock
Enough to repair most pianos without waiting for a delivery.
- Hammer felt in three weights, and hammer heads ready to shape.
- Music wire in 18 gauges, and copper for winding bass strings.
- Damper felt, wedge and flat, and key bushing cloth.
- Tuning pins in five sizes, for planks that have loosened.
- Bone coloured keytops, cut to fit old keys.
- Shellac for French polish, and brass castors for the case.
How these parts go into a piano is on the restoration page.