Shanks parallel to strings

[Ron Nossaman]

>   I can see reasons for having the hammer strike perpendicular to the 
> string line.  But I don't see any good reason for having the hammer 
> perpendicular to the shank or the shank parallel to the string.  Reasons 
> given in the archives or the journal for not permitting non-parallel 
> shanks are along the lines of:

The ideal might be more like the shank canter pin being as close as 
possible to the height of the hammer/string contact point. That's the only 
way the hammer will be hitting the string square. With the shank parallel 
to the string at hammer contact, the hammer is moving forward when it hits 
the string, even if the hammer head is perpendicular. Anything else is 
mostly a matter of getting the available parts to clear one another and 
work together both within the action, and with the action in the piano. 
Invent new action parts, re-arrange the pinblock to get a taller action 
under it, and you can get the hammer to hit the strings both square to the 
string, and from a DIRECTION or VECTOR that's also nearly perpendicular to 
the string - which isn't possible with the current action design.

No?

Ron N