<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; =
charset=iso-8859-1">
<META content="MSHTML 6.00.2800.1106" name=GENERATOR>
<STYLE></STYLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY bgColor=#ffffff>
<DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" color=#000080></FONT> </DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; =
BORDER-LEFT: #000080 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: =
black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=davner@kaosol.net href="mailto:davner@kaosol.net">Dave =
Nereson</A>
</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A =
title=pianotech@ptg.org
href="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org">pianotech@ptg.org</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> June 19, 2003 11:51 =
PM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: dangerous =
pianos</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV> A technician friend of mine showed up to tune =
a grand
and noticed all the plate screws were missing. He asked the =
owner about
it, who said, "Oh, I took them out to have them re-plated." =
Needless to
say, he didn't raise pitch or tune, but just waited til the screws =
were
returned, then reinstalled them. Nothing bad happened, (not to =
say it
never could). </DIV>
<DIV> --David Nereson, RPT</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV></BLOCKQUOTE>
<DIV dir=ltr><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" color=#000080>This subject =
line does
bring up the interesting question of just what the "plate bolts" =
actually do.
And how much stress from string tension is actually born by the rim. In =
pianos
such as the Steinway in which a horn is used as a gap-spacer some string =
tension
is deliberately transferred to the bellybraces. In all others (grands, =
that is)
the plate is designed to support all of the string tension without the =
aid of
the rim. The plate bolts are there to suspend the plate, to fix the =
plate to the
rim and keep it from rattling around inside the rim and to keep the =
plate stable
and prevent undo twisting and flexing. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" =
color=#000080></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" color=#000080>Removing all =
of the plate
bolts for plating, while certainly not recommended, probably did not =
increase
the stress load in any part of the plate enough to be dangerous. This is =
especially true with short pianos. The reason the practice is not =
recommended is
that there are a few under-designed plates out there that just might =
already be
marginal and a bit of extra twisting and flexing would be enough to take =
them
over the top. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" =
color=#000080></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" color=#000080>But, as to =
their being
dangerous to life and limb, they are not. Some factories break plates on =
a
more-or-less regular basis. (OK, not every day, but often enough that it =
is not
a really big deal when it happens.) What happens when they break is they =
break.
A crack develops somewhere. Usually with a nice, resounding bang that =
draws
everybody's attention to the thing but nothing goes flying anywhere and =
nothing
explodes.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" =
color=#000080></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" =
color=#000080>Del</FONT></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; =
BORDER-LEFT: #000080 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS"
color=#000080></FONT> </DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>