Thanks Guys! I found a good sounding strike point for note 88, and I'll raise the action to that until I can tolerate pulling all the shanks out of the new Renner butts and regluing them
( hopefully ). Lucky its my piano! I realize that if the strike point is lower further down the scale, it is nearly inconsequential,tonally, although the shorter shank length will affect the touch, a little. Is there any ideal shank length or means of calculation? I just set the hammer stroke at 1-5/8 " because at that distance note 88 (already glued ) hits the string perpendicularly. Still, I'm baffled that the hammer line is canted! Note 1,for instance, is on a 1/2 inch longer shank than note 27 (top Bass note ).I have checked and rechecked, and that's how the factory originals were installed, which tripped me up! Then the tenor/ treble shanks slowly increase in length until note 88 is about 1/4' higher than note 28. Is this a factory goof? Has anyone else seen a piano or Krakauer piano like this? Does anyone have a 1920's 50" Krakauer to compare to before I choose an overall shank length? I also forgot that this action had rubber grommets in the bottom of the brackets where it sets on the posts ( I took it apart 5 years ago and threw them out because they were rotted ) Can I get replacements, or should I just raise the keybed posts to get the right strike point and be happy? (Perhaps with a circle of Naugahyde (TM)stuffed into the action post bottoms to absorb vibration. I like old Krakauers, and wish to make this one as nice as possible!
All advice appreciated.
Thanks again!
Gordon