This piano is a distant relation to the Mother of All Belly Rails that Del posted some time ago. These photos were taken in a colleague's shop. I was only there briefly and not able to find out anything about the piano, but was able to take a few pics. This is Steck 9557. The plate has a web that is cast in, which is beneath the string plane and integral with the plate braces. Here are a few general pics: [Steck1] https://www.moypiano.com/ptg/files/attachments/87/bf/c9/6d/Steck1.jpg http://tinyurl.com/ljc1 [Steck2] https://www.moypiano.com/ptg/files/attachments/68/d5/87/73/Steck2.jpg http://tinyurl.com/ljbx [Steck3] https://www.moypiano.com/ptg/files/attachments/2a/80/7c/67/Steck3.jpg http://tinyurl.com/ljc4 [Steck4] https://www.moypiano.com/ptg/files/attachments/c7/fd/a2/ee/Steck4.jpg http://tinyurl.com/ljc9 The web covers part of the soundboard and is screwed down to the cutoff bar and to the belly rail. Because of limitations with my e-mail program I have included more photos in a second post. Phil Ford Here are additional photos of Steck 9557. The following photos are closer shots of the area over the belly rail: [Steck5] https://www.moypiano.com/ptg/files/attachments/bd/f5/fd/04/Steck5.jpg http://tinyurl.com/ljcp [Steck6] https://www.moypiano.com/ptg/files/attachments/a9/18/9d/1f/Steck6.jpg http://tinyurl.com/ljcv I don't know if you can tell from the photos, but the plate web is elevated above the soundboard at the bellyrail. It rests on top of the damper guide rails. There are screws through the plate and into the belly rail. The plate web does not wrap around the front of the belly rail. The following photos are closer shots of the plate web over the cutoff bar and the cutoff portion of the soundboard. Neither of these is great quality: [Steck7] https://www.moypiano.com/ptg/files/attachments/58/1f/21/88/Steck7.jpg http://tinyurl.com/ljd3 [Steck8] https://www.moypiano.com/ptg/files/attachments/03/bd/13/1a/Steck8.jpg http://tinyurl.com/ljda The last photo is a close up of the web flange over the cutoff bar. There is a wooden strip that sits on top of the soundboard over the cutoff bar. The plate rests on this strip and there are screws down through the plate and presumably into the cutoff bar. This design may offer some support for the belly rail, but because of the gap between the plate and the soundboard at the bellyrail, I don't know if it would be much. However, this design does look like it may offer significant support for the cutoff bar. Phil Ford
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