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<DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" color=#000080>I've been at this =
rewhatevering
business since early in the 1960s. About the time I figure I must have =
seen most
everything, someone like Chickering comes along with this:</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" color=#000080></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV align=center><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" color=#000080><IMG =
alt="" hspace=0
src="cid:004901c2cf98$ed946820$0100007f@delsmachine" align=baseline
border=0></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" color=#000080></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" color=#000080>Yes, that gold stuff =
between the
agraffe line and the bridges is plate! It's all part of a continuous, =
one-piece
casting. And around the bellyrail the casting extends down probably =
another 75
mm the full width of the bellyrail with large (probably #18 or so) 4" =
(100 mm)
wood screws spaced about every 150 mm or so. Yes, the plate is heavy. =
Yes, what
would normally be an overbar is actually an underbar. Yes, the pinblock =
is fully
fitted inside the plate cavity. Yes, the tuning pin holes are =
size-on-size with
the tuning pins. (It must have been interesting driving those 4/0 pins =
into
holes intended to flush-fit 2/0 pins!)</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" color=#000080></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" color=#000080>Now, you would think, =
with all
this massive plate and belly structure (the three longitudinal =
bellybraces are
fully 100 mm x 150 mm) the idea would be to provide a solid foundation =
for the
soundboard. But, no, the soundboard is semi-floating on a liner =
approximately 15
mm tall by about 35 or 40 mm wide. It is attached only every 300 or 400 =
mm. You
might be able to make out the small wood blocks with screws--there are =
five of
them--along the bass side. That's how the entire soundboard is
mounted--including underneath that massive plate structure.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" color=#000080></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" color=#000080>No structural =
deficiencies
here....</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" color=#000080></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" color=#000080>Del</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" color=#000080></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" color=#000080>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://www.pianobuilders.com">www.pianobuilders.com</A></FONT></D=
IV></BODY></HTML>