Rim BendingStations of the Steinway

See how a Steinway grand piano acquires its distinctive shape. In the rim-bending station, up to twenty layers of hardwood maple and mahogany veneers are glued together and pressed into the instrument's curved silhouette — a process that can take up to six hours under intense pressure.

Master craftsmen must work with extraordinary care and precision at every moment. Once removed from the press, the newly formed rim must rest for a further 100 days so the glue fully cures and the wood settles into its final form. Only then can the rim be relied upon to support the tension of the strings and transfer sound through the body of the instrument.

Rim bending is the third station in the Steinway manufactory in Hamburg and one of the most visually striking steps in the journey from raw timber to concert grand.