My two cents:  Do not, I repeat _do not_ try to braze the cracked
plate!  You will only make matters worse, because the crack will then
travel.  Applying heat to the plate will only worsen the situation.

Drill a 1/8" hole at the termination of the crack, so it will then
travel no further.

By the way, I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving.  Mine was spent on
the road (my wife & I had Thanksgiving dinner in our luxury camper).
We went south to Michigan to visit Delphi Stained Glass (my supplier
for leaded glass for player piano fronts), and to pick up a Leonard
baby grand for rebuilding and Pianomation installation.

We did have a good Thanksgiving: on our way north, in Wisconsin, two
deer jumped out in front of us and we missed both of them.  We're very
thankful for that, among other things!

Dan Armstrong
Armstrong Piano Tuning & Repair
Pine River, MN