Hi, everyone! I'm new here, but I've been lurking for a little while. Amazing community, I really appreciate the love that still exists for these old machines.
Having rebuilt a few 200-series Wurlitzers, I've noticed that they are becoming much less easier to find, and I've started researching the possibility of building a reed-based piano from the ground-up. A huge undertaking, obviously, but a project I could wholeheartedly get behind.
I built a couple of CNC routers earlier this year, and have access to two 3D printers. From what I can tell, manufacturing the action will be the most difficult part, with perhaps the reedbar following closely. For now, I'm considering trying to source keys and key and balance rail pins from an old piano (and any other parts I can conceivably chop). The rest I'm hoping to machine from whole cloth or populate with existing Wurlitzer parts (reeds, for instance).
I noticed that user cinnanon began a 3D model in this post
https://ep-forum.com/smf/index.php?topic=8427.0 -- an incredible effort! Has anyone made use of this model to manufacture any of the more intricate action parts? I see that a few simpler components have been 3D-printed by cinnanon, which is very promising. I would personally be more than willing to pay cinnanon for a copy of his model, I think it's absolutely invaluable as a resource.
VintageVibe is the only contemporary company that I've seen show an interest in manufacturing new-age electric keyboards (like Rhodes- and Clavinet-clones), but I haven't seen them take on the reed-based world yet.
What do you guys think? Any thoughts, comments, or advice?