Removing grand plate

[Wimblees@AOL.COM]

In a message dated 98-11-01 00:13:04 EST, you write:

<< I need to remove a plate for some work to be done and need to purchase the
 equipment to do so.  I can purchase a 3 ton chain hoist (overdone perhaps,
 but only $99 CDN).  My shop has steel beams which I can put a chain over to
 attach this to.  What would you recommend to attach from the hoist to the
 plate and any safety precautions I need to take.
  >>


Attach a big C clamp to the steel beam, to which I hang a "come - a - long"
Then using ropes or straps, lift the plate out of the piano, enough so that
you can move the piano out from under the plate. Then lower the plate onto a
set of saw horses. 

The trick is getting the straps to balance the plate. I attach one ond of the
strap at the trebel end, where the strut comes into the webbing. Then take the
strap through an end of the come - along, and down to the bass end strut, then
back through the come -a long, and down to the end of the plate, where the
struts come together. Somethimes, you have to get a little imaginative as to
how you can attach the straps to the plate. But if you can figure it out, and
get the plate to balance, it will work very easy.

Willem Blees