Broken Plate

[Kent Swafford]

The plate broke; you did not break it. Period.

Please see the plate issue of the Journal for more information:

http://www.ptg.org/ptj/plate_issue.pdf



Kent Swafford



On Oct 5, 2007, at 4:05 PM, Robert Payne wrote:

> Greetings to all,
> I am a 30 year veteran of our craft but a newbie to the tech list.  
> I need your help. I have seen broken plates that were already  
> broken when I got there, but for the first time one broke during a  
> tuning, ( following a large pitch raise ). The piano was a 20+ year  
> old Currier Studio that appeared to be in near perfect condition.  
> The customer said that it hadn't been tuned since it was new. It  
> was around 150 cents flat (maybe as much as 200 in spots). First I  
> pulled it to 440 with no overpull. After that it was about 50 to 60  
> cents low. Next I did a normal pitch raise using the appropriate  
> overpull. After fixing a few strays I was ready to tune. Just as I  
> was setting the A4 to 440 I heard this tremendous  
> BAMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM ! ! ! I  ABOUT HAD A HEART ATTACK. The entire  
> middle section went completely dead.Of course broken plate was the  
> first thing that came to mind, but what I found was really strange  
> to me. The plate appeared to be laminated steel. I have never seen  
> or heard of such a thing. One of the laminates had separated and  
> was pushing out on the strings. What can anyone tell me about these  
> laminated plates ? Was this catastrophe entirely my fault or was  
> there a way to avoid this ? Is it possible or feasible to attempt a  
> repair ? For future reference, what other manufacturers have used  
> this kind of plate ?
> The customer was extremely gracious and insisted that it wasn't my  
> fault, but I can't help but feel responsible for not recognizing  
> the potential danger in attempting such a large pitch raise on this  
> particular instrument. ( I have successfully raised pitch by that  
> much many many times during my career.) Anyway, thanks for your  
> input. I'm looking forward to the verdict.
>
> Robert Payne, Rpt.   Dallas Chapter

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