Lost motion: (was puzzler on M & H BB

[A440A at aol.com]

Greetings, 
     I wrote: 
>block the whippen so that it cannot move, and regulate the balancier so that 
the jack can
just be felt moving across the leather.  I find that I can do this and not see
any dropping of the hammer, which suggests that there is no lost motion
between the two.  < 

Dave replies: 
<< If your blocked wippen did show some hammer movement when the jack was
tripped out that would indicate that the jack was indeed holding the
knuckle with no lost motion and the hammer dropped down to the
repetition lever when the jack moved away.<< 

       I don't need the jack to hold the hammer up,  just provide a positive 
stop to the hammershank at rest.  I want the least amount of contact possible 
without there being any lost motion, and feeling the jack touching the leather 
is the way I have found to get there consistantly in the least amount of 
time.  
    I realize this is a fine point, but its practical aspects are what make 
it valuable to me.  I can set 88 balanciers by feeling for the slightest c
ontact between jacks and knuckles faster than any other way.  If I were to set them 
by feeling the tops of the mortices, I would still have to double check them 
to make sure that all jacks would return. 
"Tempus = $ "

Regards,     
Ed Foote RPT 
http://www.uk-piano.org/edfoote/index.html
www.uk-piano.org/edfoote/well_tempered_piano.html