<HTML>Imagine holding a 10-lb. sack of sugar. You feel it as= ten pounds. Now attach a powerful magnet to the bottom of the sack, and a p= owerful repelling magnet in your hand. The magnets might not touch, but is t= he sugar lighter? No. It might even float a few inches in the air, but you s= till feel ten pounds of weight in your hand, the same as if it were sitting = on top of a coil spring which you were holding. This is because the magnets are part of the lever system. In order to actual= ly remove weight from the system, they have to be external to it. This is tr= ue as well of springs. Wippen assist springs are external to the system. The= ir  force acts against the support flange, and in turn upon the [theore= tically rigid] wippen mount rail. In order for a pair of magnets to store po= tential energy in the deformation of the magnetic field, one of them must be= mounted outside the moving part of the system; i. e., on the action frame.<= BR> I think Richard should re-do his measurements. Bob D</HTML>