<HTML>A couple of months ago I asked for advice on removing a plate by myself. I didn't get too many responses, but one person, (who shall remain nameless), gave a suggestion that helped me come up with a solution to my problem. As you know, when I moved to my new shop at the university, I did not have any way of hanging a hoist on the ceiling, as I had done in my other shops. I could have asked several students to help, but it is summer when there are virtually no students around, at least none that I could trust to do this kind of work. Also, I had to do this in the evening because it is my own piano, so I had to device a way to remove the plate all by myself. I got on pianotech, and asked for help, but no one had ever done this before, except one person. And the method he used seemed way too dangerous for me. But he did give me an idea. The heaviest part of a piano is the plate. The normal procedure is to lift the plate up and out of the piano, by at least three strong people, or a hoist. Then the plate is let down to the ground, or put on a couple of saw horses. It was the lifting up and out of the piano that gave me the idea. I thought, instead of lifting the plate out of the piano, why not tip the piano upside down, and lift the piano off the plate. So this is what I did. I have a 7" block of wood I use for moving vertical pianos. (That idea was actually a tech tip in the Journal.) I also have a dolly that is 7" tall. That is about 3" more than the distance from the top of the plate and the top of the rim. This would give me enough room to put tools and hands under the rim to remove plate screws and bolts. I removed all but one of the rim bolts, (the one in the tail), and all but two of the plate screws, (one on each corner). I lifted the rear of the piano and tipped it forward, on both front legs. As I started doing this, my biggest fear was the casters slipping out from underneath the piano on the tile floor. So I put each caster on a caster cup, and put them on a blanket. The blanket also protected the front of the case as I brought it over. Once the piano was past the balance point, I had to be careful not to let it drop. This was probably the hardest part of the whole procedure. And this was one time I was glad I had that extra little weight around the waist. Once the piano was sitting on the keybed, the next step was the second most critical. I had to push the piano beyond it's balance point from the side, but then as it came around, I had to get in front of it, to keep it from falling all the way over. I let the piano down gently to the ground, making sure the dolly and the block of wood were positioned correctly under the underneath the piano. Once the piano was upside down, sitting on the dolly and the block of wood, I removed one plate, and two plate screws, and lifted the case off the plate. It was a rather simple job. One word of caution. You do need a strong back to lift the back of the piano. You must also be careful when letting the keybed to the ground. I was afraid that with weight on the front two legs, if I dropped it before the top of the case hit the ground, that the legs would break. But the final drop was only a couple of inches on the blanket, and everything went fine. Now you're probably wondering how I am going to get the plate back in. Once I have cut and drilled a new block, the plate and case are going to my house, where I will put the plate back in, and restring the piano, on my covered back porch, which has a couple of beams on which I can hang my come along. Wim </HTML>