Piano History

  • 1.  O.S. Kelly Foundry Tour

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 05-20-2013 16:07

    Hello to all my.ptg.org friends,

     We toured the O.S. Kelly foundry in Springfield, OH last week and
    watched them cast piano plates. All of Steinway and Sons piano plates
    are cast here along with Grotrian and C. Walter pianos. The foundry
    only cast plates in the wee hours of the morning due to energy
    restrictions put in place by the local power company. So as a result
    our tour started at 5 am. It was quite an experience watching all the
    preparation and hard work that goes into manufacturing these things.
    At one point somewhere in the middle of the tour, I commented to our
    guide that our group were the only people in the factory smiling. This
    is not a pleasant place to work, yet it is the highest paying job in
    Springfield. It is very loud, filthy and hot. I sure am glad to work
    on the finished product!


     Steinway and Sons stopped casting their own plates in Queens, N.Y.
    around 1937 due to the negative impact it was having on the local
    environment. Steinway had been using both of the piano plate foundries
    in Springfield until 1985 when the Wickam foundry went out of
    business, that left only O.S. Kelly.
     In 2001 Steinway purchased O.S. Kelly as a means of self
    preservation. Kelly was the only remaining foundry in the U.S. casting
    plates for pianos and if something bad happened to Kelly then Steinway
    would be out of the piano making business.

    We had a great time touring the O.S. Kelly Foundry last week. A
    great big thank you to Ray Stacey of O.S. Kelly for organizing our
    tour.
     We will be organizing another tour that will include the entire
    process from plate casting all the way through prep and finish some
    time next year after the factory has undergone major renovations. If
    you want to join in the fun and filth let me know.

    Here's a link for some photo's and video. The pics with an arrow in
    the middle are short videos.

    http://s1124.photobucket.com/user/piano2ner/story/15947

    Peace be with you,

    Doug Atkins