Tightening the plate...

[Brian Trout]

Hi Kevin,

I saw this in your post and thought I'd respond.  I have posted about this
before, so I hope that those who have seen it before will forgive the
duplication.  But I know there are some new members to the list and perhaps
it will be of benefit to someone.  The Baldwin system of plate leveling is a
bit odd if all you've seen is the standard Steinway type setup.  But it's
not nearly so intimidating after you know how it's set up.

Kevin wrote:
>...The Baldwin pianos with
> accu-just hitch pins should not tighten, but if they do, and you are able
to
> crank them down, don't I've heard you can disturb the bearing and possibly
> break the plate.

<snip>
The plate bolts are indeed bolts, not lag screws.  The plate has threaded
holes that the bolts go through, and there are also threaded mechanical
fasteners within the inner rim of the case.  Once the bolts are started into
both threaded portions, the plate height is set.  It will not move up or
down by tightening the bolt.  If you can picture having two nuts on that
bolt about 2 inches apart, and turning the bolt in the nuts 3 full turns,
the two nuts will still be 2 inches apart, provided they haven't been
stopped by the head or come off the end of the bolt.  That gives you the
basic concept.  To actually find the right setting for the plate, I used
some old packing straps from a piano crate and made some thin pieces of 3/4"
wide steel about 18" long (nothing critical here about dimensions).  I
placed them under the bolt coming down through the plate at several points
so that I could actually use the bolt to raise and lower the plate to the
height I wanted it to be.  Then I put in several bolts that went all the way
into the fasteners in the inner rim, and the height was set.  It wouldn't
move.  Then just back our the bolts over the steel a little, pull out the
steel, put in the rest of the bolts, and there it is.  I think it's a neat
setup, one of the things I like about the Baldwins.
<snip>

So if you followed my ramblings, it really won't mess anything up if you do
find that you can tighten up the plate bolts just a bit.  Like many other of
the posts have said, there's no good reason to apply excessive torque to any
of the plate bolts regardless of the setup.  I hope maybe this has shed a
bit of light on a different type of setup.  Nothing to be afraid of.  It's
just different.

Best wishes,

Brian Trout
Quarryville, PA
btrout@desupernet.net