Hey there Keith. Dale is a guy I have a lot of respect for, so I take your words and his reports and my ears are definitely open. That said, I have measured friction change that I attribute to the knuckle / jack top interface with any significant angle change in the jack at rest. Where we may be on different tracks here is just how big the window for adjustment is. You mention 1-2 mm of spread... I think in terms of jack angle at rest. Tho I did mention there was some credence given to the idea that the jacks angle could be just a bit on the B + side, albeit just a tad. My point tho, I'll hold on too. Whippen spread, capstan position...etc are best set from geometric concerns. You can get all the leverage issues worked out you want without any incompatibility here. Thats my take on Stanwood as well. And I have an awful lot of respect for David. Sure you can place the capstan further in or out without any other consideration then changing the ratio and make it work.... but often as not thats shooting in geometric dark. Strikes me as best to change the action leverage from a geometric perspective... and then balance it. Simply looking away from geometric issues by reseting leverage and balancing at the same time ala Stanwood doesnt add up in my mind... especially since the former is every bit as easy to begin with. While we are on this bit about Ratios... there's one that seems always forgotten in the mixing up of ratio measurments that are better to my mind left separate for what they respectively are. And that is the ratio of speed. Overs made a rather large point of this some years back especially as it relates to the jack speed. My point is that there is a lot of this stuff we really dont have all that great a handle on. True enough we get some rather smooth running actions each in our own, if not entirely dissimilar ways... but I like to stay a bit on the safe side, as far as my viewpoint allows for at any given time. Cheers RicB Ok Rick, the only problem I have is the friction is measurable is it not? It was measured. There was no change in a wippen move of 1 to 2 mm. The action was weighed off. Not to the DW but the BW. Dale Erwin custom balances his actions. He said there was change in the weight of the keys due to a change in leverage. He did not believe friction had anything to do with the change. I'm not arguing, I'm only reporting actual measuring. You will have to discuss with Dale how he weighs his action and why he thinks friction had nothing to do. Me, I'm going to take his word that he measured and interpreted the data properly.
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