doping pinblock/piano upside down

[Richard Anderson]

I'm thinking of the transition of the piano from on its side (as you would
have it on a skid for moving) to laying it upside down. If you think of the
rim in cross section, when the piano leaves vertical all the weight of the
piano will be resting on the top of the outside rim (where the lid butts are
attached. This results in a rotational force that's trying to split the
bottom of the outside rim away from the inside rim. On pianos with a rim of
good material in good condition this would not be a problem (as evidenced by
reports of success by others who have tried it.) As someone who has seen the
bottom side of lots of pianos I would say that most have some degree of rim
separation. Some have hair line cracks, and some have gaps you could slip a
penny into. Even a hair line crack means failed glue joint and I've seen
pianos with a hair line crack that runs the length of the side extending
from top to bottom which means no joint at all. There are also pianos out
there that have the inside rim just screwed into the outside rim. Condition
of the rim on the straight side would be the determining factor for me.

I wouldn't worry about the weight of the plate and inside rim trying to
shear away from the outside rim as long as you lay it down carefully,
there's a lot more joint surface area in effect there.

-- 
Richard Anderson
Anderson Piano Service
mailto:tknostf@foxvalley.net
http://users.FoxValley.net/~tknostf/

> From: "John M. Formsma" <jformsma@dixie-net.com>
> Reply-To: pianotech@ptg.org
> Date: Wed, 9 Feb 2000 22:38:20 -0600
> To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
> Subject: RE: doping pinblock/piano upside down
> 
> Richard,
> 
> Thanks very much for this informative post. I will use your suggestion of
> foam blocks. What you said about the rim may be a concern. Would supporting
> the plate on blocks of wood offset the possibility of rim separation?
> 
> Best regards,
> 
> John Formsma
> Blue Mountain, MS