Front lid extended during performance

[pianoguru at cox.net]

---- Carman <cgpiano at suddenlink.net> wrote: 
>   As the original poster of this question, I really appreciate your responses. 
>  I would like to hear the opinions of -piano manufacturers- or factory reps as to whether the front lid was -designed- to be extended when the main lid is propped up.

Of the piano manufacturers I have worked for, I am quite sure this was not taken into consideration.  I know for a fact that I never considered it in my design work, although I must confess that my work is largely in the design of the musical instrument, and not the case, except when there is a particular problem with the case that needs attention.

In an earlier life, when I was a university tech, there were a few rare occasions when artists did this.  It happened so rarely that I did not object, nor did I observe any consequential damage.

Since it has come up on this list, I did a little investigation on the subject.  The rear lid, in the open position, is held away from the spine of the rim by roughly the diameter of the hinge barrels.  The back edge of the front lid is held at this position by its attachment to the rear lid, but the front portion of the front lid rests on the front corner of the rim.  This forces the front lid to angle slightly below its normal co-planar relationship to the rear lid.  This comes out to be less that a two-degree angle.  There is sufficient space between the front and rear lid that this angle is not sufficient to bring the lower edges of the two lids into contact., so there is no leverage working against the screws in the hinge.  It is true that the weight of the front lid is being supported largely by the screws in the hinge, but there are dozens of them.   If this were done on a daily basis with a heavy lid made of MDF, I would be a little more concerned, but I would probably just keep an eye on it, and treat it as a testing environment to determine just how much it can take.  As was stated earlier in the thread, and I agree, the risk of damage is greater when the front lid is folded back of the piano cover.  

Frank Emerson