At 21:49 -0800 15/1/09, Greg Graham wrote: >For those who have successfully repaired plate cracks, does this one >look workable? I've never dealt with plate repair, and certainly >not an antique, open block plate at that. Although the few Danish pianos I've come across have been of good quality, I haven't come across one by Wulff's successors. There is nothing extraordinary about the case and I'd say that the iron frame is designed to crack where it has cracked and could easily crack again even if it were professionally stitched. Early pianos with an open plank almost always had the front bar widened in a curve from the tenor upwards reaching nearly to the pins, providing rigid support. This practice was continued well into the era of the full cast-iron frame. When they switched to a parallel lock rail the strength provided formerly by 60 mm of hardwood was provided by the now customary iron web. This piano has neither and is therefore intrinsically weak. The bars could be stitched (certainly NOT welded) but at the end of the work the value of the piano would certainly not be even a quarter of the added labour and materials. JD
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