[pianotech] Lock Rail Puzzle

[John Delacour]

At 23:01 -0700 26/04/2011, Paul McCloud wrote:

>Thinking about how this might be assembled, if there are indeed 
>lockplates embedded in the bar, with screws in the lid, I would 
>probably arrange the plates so that the bar would slide into place 
>in a direction away from the edge moulding.  In that case, the strip 
>you removed would keep the bar secure and not allow it to slide out 
>of the lock plates, and also hide any scratch marks or at least 
>prevent the possibility of marks on the polished side.  I would 
>doubt that the bar would be removed by hammering from the side, but 
>I suppose it's possible.  I would try to hammer (?) the bar towards 
>the moulding and see if it doesn't move.  Or maybe you've tried that 
>and I misunderstood.

Yes, Paul, I first tried hammering the ends in case it was done the 
Blüthner way, that is with the cleats sideways.  In fact on Blüthners 
the cleats are set into the top and the screws are under the rail. 
One heavy blow on the end of the rail usually gets it off, so when I 
saw no movement I began hammering the inside face of the rail (with a 
good smooth block in between, of course) and when that wasn't working 
I decided to sleep on it.  As you will have seen, I discovered the 
answer this morning.

Thanks to everyone who responded.

JD