> From: Boaz Kirschenbaum <pianotuner at gmail.com> > Date: October 26, 2010 1:25:01 PM EDT > > The building has high ceilings with a steel roof, VERY flimsily supported...even 2x4s or 4x4s would not work, there aren't any joists! > > My father could actually use an engine hoist in his marine business so we would share the cost...plus I bid high on this, there's a margin for tool purchase. Hi Boaz, For my first block or two, I made a contraption that looks like a swingset out of 2x4s and some slightly beefier framing lumber pieces for the top piece. It straddled the piano, and though mine was on wheels and rolled away from the piano once the plate was hoisted (carrying the plate along for a ride), you could just roll the piano out from under it instead if you have the floor space and if your ceiling is high enough to make the contraption taller. As you can see, I had the piano off of its legs so that I could make the contraption shorter and still have enough rigging and hoisting space. It worked just fine. Material cost was probably under $100 (I had plenty of 14/-20 bolts and some of the wood lying around; the bolts would be the biggest expense if you don't have them), and I dismantled it and reused everything eventually, so perhaps the materials cost was zero in the end. It sure wasn't pretty, but it did the job. I made it in one longish evening, so it did take some of my time. It would be up to you to decide if your time is more valuable than the cost of a larger engine hoist. There is an article about a similar contraption in one of the journal reprint collections (plates, I would guess?). Good luck with it, Joe DeFazio Pittsburgh -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/pianotech.php/attachments/20101026/33b0a8da/attachment.htm> -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: PlateHoist.jpg Type: image/jpg Size: 19154 bytes Desc: not available URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/pianotech.php/attachments/20101026/33b0a8da/attachment.jpg>
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