>Gentlemen: > >I have been reading the latest posts on this subject, and I see that some >confusion still exists.... > >In a real piano, be it grand or vertical, in today's world, there is no way >to make the crown of the hammer hit the string in a perfectly perpendicular >direction. You just can't do it..... > >Sincerely, Jim Ellis This is a bit strong. Let's say that I mount the hammer to a linear bearing which slides along a rod which is oriented perpendicular to the string plane. I then devise an action to throw this hammer to the string. The crown of the hammer would be moving perpendicular to the string at contact (actually, during its entire travel). This is but one of several 'designs' which my twisted mind can imagine for causing the hammer to strike perpendicular to the string. Any of them could be done in today's world. Whether any of them is practical, economically feasible, or would find acceptance with pianists is another story. Perhaps you would prefer to say, that in an action of current conventional design, with the hammer rigidly affixed to a shank and rotating about a fixed rotational axis which cannot lie in the string plane, the crown of the hammer cannot be made to move perpendicular to the string at impact. Phil F Phillip Ford Piano Service & Restoration 1777 Yosemite Ave - 130 San Francisco, CA 94124
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