Cracked plate

[Ray Hopland]

        I have had plates succesfully welded and they have held for as long
as I have since seen the pianos.  One has been holding for 30 or so years.

        As you will be rebuilding the paino, all you have to make sure of is
that there is no stress on the plate after it is reinstalled.  The plate has
to be laying flush with the framework and the nosebolts cannot be  causing
up pressure or down pressure.  eg. trying to improve downbearing by
stressing the plate.  You should place the level of the plate to have enough
downbearing at the lowest point of the bridges and if you find there is too
much downbearing in certian areas,  shim up the strings where they touch the
plate and cover the shims with felt, or if it is at Steinway type, shim up
the aliquots.  For shimmimg I have used cardboard (.025" or so) and glued
several layers together and squeezed them in a large vice, the pressure of
the vice usually compresses the cardboard by about 20%, then in the places
that are too thick, I sand down the cardboard until I get the desired
thickness using a hammer reshaping paddle.

Hope this helps,
Ray Hopland RPT