Cracked plate

[Roger C Hayden]

I just spent 7:30 to 9:00 PM  pulling a grand plate out and having it
welded.  The piano was rebuilt, gilded plate, refinished, all strung up,
dampers in.  On the fine tuning I heard a dull "THWUNK"  !!  Playing up
the keyboard chromatically my scale suddenly dipped by a third. 
Following this 'tip' back I found a crack in the plate beside a strut,
leading to one of the holes.   

OK.  My (nearly total recall) wife called a good welder who said "NO
Problem".    By God's good providence this pin block was only mounted at
the plate.  So I dropped the tension, pulled out the dampers,  popped off
all the strings from the bridge, pulled the frame screws and chain
hoisted the frame, setting it on some saw horses.  I had loosed strings
from the 'wounded'  section before, so all my welder had to do was grind
and weld.  He welded from the top and the bottom using nickle-something,
assuring me it was stronger than before.  Next, drill and insert two new
hitch pins, fix the paint, and re-assemble.

I thought my rebuilding, and lowering the bearing was at fault, but the
welder said the plate had an old crack, partly due to a thin area in the
frame and possibly from rough handling.  Later this week I'll put it back
together.  It will probably add four to six hours to the job, and while
I'll definitely tell the owner, I will not charge anymore than I first
estimated.  I'm just Praising God it wasn't a fully fit pinblock, or even
a screwed down pin block!!!

My advice for your cracked plate . . . get a more experienced welder. 
They come with varying levels of certification, just like us.

Roger Hayden, RPT



On Sat, 4 Mar 2000 21:56:38 -0600 "Richard Moody"
<remoody@midstatesd.net> writes:
> Hi Berely,
>     Where did the plate break?  Pierce says Auto Piano was build by 
> Kohler
> and Cambell.   I assisted repairing a broken plate in one (K&C) 
> without
> welding.  I kept it for 7  years as a rental before selling it. 
> (with full
> disclosure and guarantee for 2 more years.   Perhaps this plate can 
> be
> repaired even if a weld has been attempted.  Its simple, takes less 
> than 3
> hours.     ---ric
> 
> 
> 
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Berley A. Firmin II <Firman1@prodigy.net>
> To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
> Sent: Friday, March 03, 2000 5:12 PM
> Subject: Cracked plate
> 
> 
> Hi all:
> I am in desperate need of another plate for an Autopiano upright. I
> subcontracted from a PTG member to restore the player mechanism for 
> the
> piano, which he was to refinish and re-string. I just received a 
> call from
> him saying he had it re-finished and had just re-strung it and 
> broght it up
> to A-440. He says that after a few days the plate just cracked. He 
> had a
> welder repair it, but it broke again.
>     The make is Autopiano. Serial number 78088. Cast into the plate 
> below
> the first bass pin is: BX
>     In the bottom center is W         15    and     J  (1 or 7) 0
> 46 Bass strings.
> Would anyone have a plate to replace this? Or Suggestions?!!!
> Mr. Berley Antoine Firmin II
> Bayou La Combe, Louisiana
> FIRMAN1@prodigy.net
> 
> 
> 

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