[pianotech] problem in mating hammers to strings

[David Nereson]

<<Next time you hang new
hammers, dry fix the first three tenor hammers, with the 
centerline of the
hammer perfectly vertical while the shank is horizontal.  Lift 
the middle
hammer to its strike point, and it will move very close to the 
hammer to the
left, even though they were perfectly spaced at rest.
----- Original Message ----- >>

As in a "traveling" shank?  How can it move closer to a 
neighboring hammer unless the flange is tilted toward it?  Even 
if a hammer is tilted, the whole hammer moves in the path of the 
end of the shank, which is straight up and down unless the 
flange is tilted or the center pin is not parallel to the hammer 
rail.  Right?  Or what am I missing?
    Thanks for your response, though -- it brought up several 
things I hadn't thought about, namely rotated shanks (not 
perpendicular to the hammer rail).
    --David Nereson, RPT