<HTML>To: Alan Barnard - "In The Beginning" - I didn't ask i= f there was an imitation buckskin that might be easier than the original stu= ff.  Again, I should ask where and from whom? Yes, after two vodka tonic's it almost became fun. To:  Roger Bryant - In my younger days, while playing 4 hours a night a= t a piano in clubs, 5 wouldn't even faze me!  And then get up a 6:30 AM= and work an 8 hour day job. To: Avery - The Kimball shank has an "intagral knuckle" as part of the shank= .  Can't replace the knuckle, unless one were to shear off the knuckle,= cut a groove, insert a new standard knuckle.  I believe this may be co= rrect.  I'll need a comment from Joe Garrett on this point. To:  Thump - I took 2 new shanks with the standard knuckles, dry mounte= d new hammers, trimmed the end of the shank to clear the backchecks, took of= f 2 old shanks and hammers, and installed the new shanks.  Knuckle matc= hed up with the jack & window, wippen worked great.  I just about s= craped the knuckle rebuild project and ordered new shanks and hammers. = But, also being stubborn and wanting to see this through I trodded on.&nbsp= ; As far as what shanks are recommended, I only had new Yamaha shanks to exp= eriment with. To: Oleg - I believe the leather thinning you refere to is what Joe Garrett = was trying to explain to me, again, I'd need to go back to Joe on this point= and your suggestion. I thank you all for your comments, they help to fill in some voids on this p= roject. BTW, this Farrand Grand is mine, so if I screwed up anything I could just st= art over until I got it right.  As I said, I'm still not totally satisf= ied, I may still replace the shanks and hammers this fall.  I did repla= ce the wippen capstan heel cloth on all the wippens, repinned many wippens, = major action cleanup.  This is my second grand to do refurbishing work on. Last year I refurbished = a Starr Grand, with new shanks and hammers, new strings, refinished plate, p= ins, felts, refinished sharps, refinished soundboard, etc, etc, etc. &n= bsp; Sold it on the 2nd day I showed it after completion.  Took my 167 = hours from start to finish. Regards, Gordon Holley Associate Member, Indiana Chapter 467 Goshen, IN</HTML>