Two Capstans again

[Bill Ballard]

At 6:14 PM -0800 1/16/03, gordon stelter wrote:
>Knabe once used little stickers pinned to rocker
>capstans on grands. A true pain ( especially when
>repeatedly removing the stack! ) but posessed of some
>mechanical advantages, so I've heard.
>Comments? Could a modern, more convenient version be
>implemented?

19th century Bechsteins used to have this. There are definite 
advantages to this means of directly (ie., stiff-arm) coupling of the 
rep to the key. You already know one of the reasons why it went 
extinct. Another disadvantage is that the the coupling arm needs to 
have a means for varying its length (its version of turning the 
capstan up out of or down into the key). In the Victorian designs, 
this was a turnbuckle so small as to be barely workable.

Certainly if they can put a man on the moon, they can come up with a 
better implementation of this design. But where's the piano factory 
that going to pursue this idea?

Bill Ballard RPT
NH Chapter, P.T.G.

"May you work on interesting pianos."
     ...........Ancient Chinese Proverb
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