captured action

[Ron Nossaman]

>I need help figuring out how to get the action out of an Estey baby grand.
>As it sits, the bass hammers are 1/4 to 1/2 inch higher than the bottom of
>the stretcher.  Blow distance is 2", the shanks are settled firmly on the
>rest rail felt.

Terrific, another "locked door murder" puzzle. I assume the perpetrator 
wasn't a criminal genius, so the action was gotten in there somehow, then 
something fairly simple (I hope) was changed. Does the stretcher look 
"painted in" where it contacts the rim, or is there an obvious gap between 
the two? Is there no contact at all between stretcher and pinblock, as in - 
can you insert something between the two so it can be seen underneath and 
slide it from rim to rim without hitting anything?

Is there enough compression slack to the shank rest felts to insert a piece 
of poster board between the spreader and hammers and shoehorn the action 
out with it? Does raising the glide bolts get you any clearance?

With a two inch blow distance, and no clearance at the stretcher, something 
is really strange. What's the key dip, by the way?

Ron N