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<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: =
black"><B>From:</B>
<A href="mailto:caccola@net1plus.com" =
title=caccola@net1plus.com>Clark</A>
</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A =
href="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org"
title=pianotech@ptg.org>pianotech@ptg.org</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Wednesday, August 18, =
1999 7:43
AM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: Was V-Pro, now =
welded
plates</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV><TT>I'm interested to learn a little about Del's steel =
plates,
too - and also about cast iron ones.</TT><TT></TT>
<P><TT>We have two interesting plates in the shop. The 1890's =
Broadwood grand
has its plate cast in five separate pieces machined to screw together, =
possibly with dove-tail joints. The second example is a very cheap
Depression-era straight-strung spinet, if I remember correctly, the =
plate is
welded together, and the larger steel sections are built up from =
thinner
pieces.</TT><TT></TT>
<P><TT>I wonder if you bought scrap steel or cast iron and had a =
machine shop
build up a plate similar to, if somewhat simpler than our Broadwood, =
whether
this would cost less than having one cast (assuming you did all of the =
preliminary work). How much does it cost to get a plate =
cast?</TT><TT></TT>
<P><TT>Clark Panaccione</TT>
<P><FONT
=
size=2>----------------------------------------------------------------=
--------------</FONT>
<P><FONT size=2>It would cost less than having one plate cast. =
The
plate, itself, is not the problem. It's the pattern. And =
that will
run anywhere from about $10,000 to $30,000, depending on its size and
complexity. And on how many times it has to be done over until =
they get
it right. Once you have the pattern, you will need to buy a run =
of
plates. They are not going to want to cast just one. So =
you might
have to buy anywhere from 10 to 100 plates at a time. The cost =
per plate
will be anywhere from $500 to $1,500. Give or take, depending on =
inflation, rising costs for power, labor, etc. My figures may be =
somewhat out of date.</FONT>
<P><FONT size=2>Del<BR>Delwin D Fandrich<BR>Piano Designer &
Builder<BR>Hoquiam, Washington USA<BR>E.mail: <A
=
href="mailto:pianobuilders@olynet.com">pianobuilders@olynet.com</A><BR>=
Web
Site: <A
=
href="http://pianobuilders.olynet.com/">http://pianobuilders.olynet.com=
/</A></FONT>
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