Brian: I had a job just like that last year. I replaced wippens, hammers shanks and hammers. The action was about 80 or 90 yrs old and matching parts were not available. I ordered several samples from the supply house to decide the best choice. Luckily the action brackets were made of wood which allowed me to modify the geometry relatively easily. I plugged the holes in the brackets allowing me to redrill new ones for the new locations of the wippen and hammer rails. I sat the empty rails on the brackets with one sample wippen and hammer shank in each section and was able to move the rails back and forth until the parts lined up properly and could be regulated within proper tolerances. Once I had a good location, I then redrilled rail mounting holes. All in all I probably moved each rail no more than 1 or 2 8ths on an inch. I also had to move the capstan line. If you have metal brackets, you can look into making wood brackets or better yet, getting blocks of nylon, the plastic-type material that many spurlock tools are made of. You can cut your own brackets and the movement from climate change will be nominal. Good luck, Matt W.
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