Hi Mark: I'm from the eastern shore of Maryland originally, hence my remarks about the bay. It's been way too long since I have had any decent crab cakes. Thanks for the further information. You are a better man than I, you chased your muse pretty far! How much do you think the added rigidity of this plate adds to the sustain ? If you have other pictures of the plate construction, particularly in process, I am sure there are many of us who would further enjoy seeing your act of creation. Regards, Will From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of perrys piano restorations Sent: Sunday, May 31, 2009 9:20 PM To: pianotech at ptg.org Subject: Re: [pianotech] Piano Built completely in Virginia-pics Hello Will, yes the chesapeake bay is 'tasted for resin. (probably). Anywho, to answer some more about the plate, the term "stacked weldment" means that I layered the steel. The material I used is 10ga (0.135" thick). The thickness of the plate is a VERY varied question. In order not to twist at the back, the plate is 3/4" thick as if it were formed in cast.... but layered and spaced appropriately. The front of the plate incorporates similar features of a modern cast plate. IE: it would be a terrible thing for a plate to bow down onto the action like many victorian plates, so the thickness here resembles 3"....... but not really. That 3" is from the top strut level, to the gusset at the bottom of the pinblock. If the placement of various components is void, or irregular, or incorrect, problems will show up quickly under load and the instrument is all for not. this plate took me 574 hours to draw before I released it to the shop for fabrication. Incedentally, every string was laid out on paper prior to release as well. You have to even account for the vibrations possible between an overstrung bass string, and one of the wire strings it passes over. THEY BETTER CLEAR EACH OTHER NO MATTER WHAT or you lose much sleep. Now, as for the carbon fiber, A.H.S.S. is hot rolled in manganese and carbon at the steel mill. The bonded carbon fiber layers are clad in fiberglass to prevent natural galvanic corrosion (carbon is conductive and static can cause rust between dis-similar "metals")....The bonded carbon fiber panels are pressed up in my shop, and the steel is cut down the road on a water-jet to my .dxf files. Welding is done in a manner to even stresses in the steel, and aid the solid tabbed joints. Welds are not necessary for strength, but they do increase the strength. A Deadening effect is REQUIRED for the plate to be inert to tone, so we took whatever steps necessary in the weld shop to obtain this too. I promise you, this plate is ELABORATELY complicated. It would easily make more sense to cast plates, but saving 300lbs, and offering a crack-resistant design seemed worth it to me. As for the looks, I dare anyone to show me how it does not look cast. sheet metal was always one of my strengths, and every inch of every blueprint this shop produces is prayed over fervently. The plate works well, and is much stiffer and straighter than cast plates. hope this is helpful. God Bless, Mark _____ From: surfdog at metrocast.net To: pianotech at ptg.org Date: Thu, 28 May 2009 18:20:12 -0400 Subject: Re: [pianotech] Piano Built completely in Virginia-pics Very impressive, Perry. Is that Chesapeake Bay tested for the resin? As for the steel plate bonded with carbon fiber panels, could you describe that a bit more? Is that a sandwich with the carbon fiber on top and bottom with the steel in the middle? How thick is the plate overall, and how thick each of the components? Anything else you wish to share about it? Will Truitt From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of perrys piano restorations Sent: Thursday, May 28, 2009 5:45 PM To: pianotech at ptg.org Subject: Re: [pianotech] Piano Built completely in Virginia-pics Thanks for the inquiry... I hope to have audio soon! I am scheduled to hire a recording studio to set up and cut a cd in a couple of months. As for the plate, what a project this was! It is a stacked weldment of advanced high strength steel, bonded with carbon fiber panels, and a flexible resin matrix to hold the decorative carving on. The flexible resin is time tested succesfully in salt water for over 55 years. This plate will not absorb near the flexing, and this is expected to last almost 200 years. (I'll be gone by then). anyway, it comes in at 1/3 the weight of a standard 9' plate, with higher stiffness, and nearly the exact yield strength. Fatigue properties will also be good on this design. All fitted steel parts are tabbed and notched to mechanically fit together prior to welding, so that stress is not on welds, but shear strength of the steel itself. It took my shop over 1,000 hours to produce this plate. I will release more information at some point soon. God Bless, Mark PErry _____ Date: Wed, 27 May 2009 21:35:07 -0500 From: formsma at gmail.com To: pianotech at ptg.org Subject: Re: [pianotech] Piano Built completely in Virginia-pics Enjoyed looking at the pictures, Mark. You have audio? I'd like to hear more about the plate, if you have time. -- JF On Wed, May 27, 2009 at 6:27 PM, perrys piano restorations <perrymark at hotmail.com> wrote: Hello All, I thought I would take a few moments to update everyone on the piano my shop is building from scratch! The pictures show a general shot of the case before we shaped the front, the decal which is hand gilt in 24kt gold, the piano plate (not cast iron, rather, advanced high strength steel weldment made down the road from my shop), the under-side of the piano. To re-cap quickly, the underside shows primative art from the catacombs of Rome, with a grape vine pattern interconnecting it all. The Plate has passion flowers, angels, and a scroll from the book of revelation. The hand gilt decal is layered gold leaf, and show a boy sitting with a lion, lamb, etc.... and the holy spirit above with two angels. The inside of the rim is olive wood from the middle east, and the outside is amboyna burl. (not as red in real life.) the finish is french polish, in which we used frankinsense and muhr as an addative to the shellac. We used holy oil from Jerusalem to lubricate our rubbing pads, and to finalize, the keys are wooly mamoth ivory on spanish cedar keys. Also made here, along with the entire action. We offer ivory work to the industry as a side note. the piano is called "the passionata", which means the passion. (the passion of Christ) . The nameboard is inlaid birdseye maple , with the letters inlaid out of amboyna, and perfled in ebony wood. outward art is 24kt gold. Enjoy the pics. God bless, Mark Perry www.carvedpianoparts.com <http://www.carvedpianoparts.com/> _____ HotmailR has a new way to see what's up with your friends. Check <http://windowslive.com/Tutorial/Hotmail/WhatsNew?ocid=TXT_TAGLM_WL_HM_Tutor ial_WhatsNew1_052009> it out. -- JF _____ HotmailR has ever-growing storage! Don't worry about storage limits. Check <http://windowslive.com/Tutorial/Hotmail/Storage?ocid=TXT_TAGLM_WL_HM_Tutori al_Storage1_052009> it out. _____ HotmailR goes with you. 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