Mother in Law of All Cutoff Bars

[Phillip Ford]

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