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The stick that props up my grand piano lid seems so unsafe. I'm worried about someone accidentally leaning on the stick or bumping it or anything really. That lid would break bones on its way down. I have a baby on the way and in a year or two it'll actually be a safety hazard. Are there any prop stick systems that are more secure? Has anyone ever rigged up something that locks into place?

Isn't there a "socket" of any sort for the prop to fit into ?

If not, or if you think the existing socket is too shallow (and depending on the value of your piano and how original you want to keep it) - it may be possible to add a "cup" to the underside of the lid for the prop to fit into.
Vanda King may have something that wouldn't spoil the appearance - OTOH if your piano is "low end" perhaps you could glue on a castor cup ?

There's a little cup but it's very shallow. Seems that most grands have these little cups and that's it. If you lean on the stick it's coming out of that cup.

One should not lean on the stick. The weight of the lid does a good job of holding the stick in place.

No other furniture or anything really would use such a flimsy support for such a heavy weight and risk of injury. But somehow, maybe because it's a traditional design, the huge grand piano lid gets a pass. It's a liability. Of course you shouldn't lean on the lid, or bump the lid up a bit, or hit it with a thrown ball but then again it shouldn't have such a weak design in the first place.

Try googling: Magic Lid Safety Ease. They sell a gas shock lid support system. I have no experience with it but it's a start.

Kurt

A thin wooden rod is not something to lean on. Especially not if it supports something heavy. If they have no brains to realize, they have to learn the hard way ...

Kids should learn about these things already in kindergarten. Unfortunately we are getting more and more protective... I think that leads to this kind of concerns about what should be non-issues.

Just put the lid on the short stick or close it when not in use. If you don't have a hydraulic fallboard, that's the most likely place for a little one to get hurt. They fall fast, are right exactly at eye level and tiny fingers are often right in the line of fire. I'd worry far more about that than the lid with a toddler in the house.

Best of luck.

Thanks. I'll think about it.

Those cups actually hold quite well. You have to lift the lid a little to get the stick out of the cup. In some cases, pushing on the side of the stick without lifting the lid will break the stick before it'll pop out of the cup -- the hinge screws fail first.

With little children in the house, the best advice is to keep the fallboard and both lids closed when you're not actually playing. The bigger danger is to the piano -- marbles stuck between the plate and sound board, chocolate syrup on the keys, etc..... This is your first child, right?

Obviously wood is very strong if load is applied correct in relation to grain
Great photo-love it
It looks like wood anyway.

It is a good caution to put a helmet when playing, anyway (particularly for concerts )

If i may add my two pennies, when in doubt (at parties and functions) I always put the lid on the short prop, the lid has much less distance to fall, and also it is much more difficult for the prop to slip from its cup.

"...If i may add my two pennies, when in doubt (at parties and functions) I always put the lid on the short prop, the lid has much less distance to fall, and also it is much more difficult for the prop to slip from its cup..."

...and cocktails placed on the lid slide harmlessly to the floor, giving the other partygoers a chance to point and laugh.

As far as security for (from) a toddler: many grands have a keycover lock, which also prevents the lid from opening--- as long as you keep the key someplace the curious toddler can't get at it. Failing that, you could always keep the piano in a locked room.

I have always associated locked pianos with institutions, which wish to protect the piano from vandalism. All this worry makes the innocent piano seem like a collection of dangerous firearms, which must be kept under lock and key. At that, you will have more luck persuading a toddler not to mess with a piano lid on full stick, than a cat.

My favorite observation on the subject came from a contributor to the old Readers' Digest magazine: "When we first got married, the floor looked like the top of the piano. After raising three kids, the top of the piano looks like the floor."

You will find that the lid prop is the least of your worries. The engineering of the stick is more than adequate.

Show your future toddlers this Lid-Safety video from 1926. This is what happens when you're playing near an open lid:




Sorry, couldn't resist

Hinged at the front? Now that would be unusual!

But not unheard of.

Once upon a time I taught in high schools where there were several grands per school. I never saw a lid come down inadvertently, although the pianos were in sad, extremely well-used condition, and the students in band class were sometimes quite bumptious.
Fall-boards are another story. I don't recall any broken fingers though. Keys??? Long gone.
The big uprights did wander though, from room to room, especially when night school classes were held. There were usually some big male students available who moved pianos after school as their job, and loved the task of roaming the school to find and return them to the proper classroom next morning. They did an excellent job, but I doubt a teacher today could allow that. I never saw even a ding from the moving, much less a piano toppling, although just on casters.

Your child is more likely to be injured by the piano bench than the piano lid. My 5-year-old decided to hang upside down and backwards on it. Her 40lb weight, along with all the books inside the bench, made for a pretty loud crash.

It's good to think ahead, to carry out Risk Assessments and to identify Hazards. Perhaps a Method Statement could be produced for living in proximity to a piano.

But in line with others' comments, does anyone know of any case of any person young or old in any place at any time having been injured by a falling grand piano lid?

We've all heard of cases where due to the loss of grand hinge pins a lid has crashed off the piano on being raised, but that is a different issue.