Piotr Barcz asked [250710 MMDigest], "Has anyone else seen a 1920s era
Francis Bacon (Kohler & Campbell) stencil player piano with absurdly
long hammer travel and keydip?"

Are you sure about that measurement of 7/8-inch for keydip? That would
be way too deep; and would cause problems for hand-playing.

I can't see Kohler and Campbell -- which had learned to mass-produce
a consistent product -- doing anything out of the ordinary, at least
in my experience, and I've encountered many of their pianos, including
Bacon player uprights, over the past 40 years.

So, to answer your questions, I would say your problems are due to wear
on the piano, and probably various "repair" jobs done over the years.
The front punchings may have been replaced with thinner materials,
or eaten by mice which would certainly increase the dip.

As a guideline: typical factory measurements for a full-sized upright
from that era would be 1-7/8-inch hammer travel and 3/8" keydip. These
numbers are not "set in stone" and will vary a little with different
manufacturers. In addition, they might be altered on a particular piano
at the factory to get it working right and out the door.

Remember that if the hammers have been filed, that will increase the
distance of hammer travel, even without shifting the position of the
hammer rail. Generally, to compensate for the filing, and for wear
and compression on felts and leathers in the action, the hammer rail
on an old upright is shimmed up (perhaps to 1-3/4 inches or so) and
the keydip increased to 13/32-inch.

Again, these are not exact figures; the saying "whatever works" applies
here. Eventually, the hammers and other parts just get too worn and so
have to be replaced to get things playable.

As far as the keybed, on rare occasions I have come across a piano
that was dropped heavily during a move, or where the keybed was
temporarily removed to fit the piano through a doorway, and things
can get seriously out of alignment -- but that is unlikely to be the
issue here.

Richard Friedman
Upstate New York