<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=US-ASCII"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.6000.16544" name=GENERATOR></HEAD> <BODY id=role_body style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: Arial" bottomMargin=7 leftMargin=7 topMargin=7 rightMargin=7><FONT id=role_document face=Arial color=#000000 size=2> <DIV>Rick Brekne's logical statement regarding the definitive action spread measurement for a piano makes a lot of sense:-</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#004080>I understand the thinking, but would point out that the whippen center <BR>hammer center spread is really quite predetermined by the position of <BR>the jack at rest when the action is a the desired regs specs. It should <BR>be very perpendicular to the shank with the back side of the jack <BR>running an extension of the line of the back side of the knuckle core.  <BR>Not a lot of room for moving this around unless you want to introduce <BR>friction problems.<BR></FONT></DIV> <DIV>Is it naive then, given this correct whippen position, to trace back the action /key geometry from this point and say that the definitive position of the capstan in the key is therefore exactly in the middle of the lever heel ?  And also, then calculate the correct key balance position from these two crucial points on the magic line?</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>ric</DIV></FONT> </BODY></HTML>