Nosing Around

[Brian Trout]

I appreciate your thoughts, Wim.

You wrote:
> Contrary to what some technicians think, down bearing cannot be adjusted
with
> the nose bolt. Lowering the plate, by lowering the nose bolt, and
tightening
> the nut, is not going to give the piano more down bearing.

Well, it can depend a little on what you consider "adjusting downbearing".
Some of those bolts that come up through the plate are (sometimes) in
locations where moving them up or down would affect the downbearing. (I'm
thinking mostly in the mid treble where there are usually nose bolts coming
up through the plate near the hitch pins.)  I did NOT say that was a good
thing to do, although I know there are techs who would do it.  I ain't one
of 'em!!

>All that will do
> is put the plate under tension, and it might crack.

It would, and it may very well.  That being said, plates are pretty amazing
in the loads that they have to carry and the actual amount of bending they
really can do sometimes.  I've seen plates that were bent in such
contortions that I couldn't imagine why they hadn't broken.  They do bend.
But the only thing is, they have a certain limit to which they will go and
beyond that, it's broke!  (No turnin' back!) And that's not always the same
from one area of the plate to another, or one plate to the next.  There are
weak points in most all castings usually found only after the dreaded
"break" has already happened.

Just some thoughts from the peanut gallery on a dreary, rainy Friday
morning...  Must get back to work...

Best wishes,

Brian Trout
Quarryville, PA
btrout@desupernet.net