[Harp-L] Treating Reeds for Stress

[cscharp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]

The act of cutting, grinding, bending, filing, etc moves the molecules of metal, and makes them helter skelter.  This is my understanding.  The freezing, and now, heating, apparantly, aligns the molecules and relaxes them.  I am not a metalurgist either.  

I know that the same thing happens to glass also.  Glass builds and holds stressses from usage, clinking, sound, etc, and then one day it has had enough and it just explodes apart at the slightest touch.  Have you ever seen this?

I wonder if anyone has attempted to make a glass comb?  

I do know that if you take a steel ball and drop it on a steel plate it will bounce higher than any other combination, not that that has to do with anyting related to harps.

I also do not know why my font changed to italics on its own.

Mysterious world.

Harvey berman


Date: Wed, 24 Sep 2008 13:22:24 -0400
From: "Cliff Hall" <12barz@xxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [Harp-L] Treating reeds for stress
To: harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx
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My metallurgical education is zilch.  Could somebody explain for any of us
who might be similarly impaired what the "stress" in the reeds actually
consists of?  Is it some kind of difference in molecular arrangement?  What
kind?  Is it measurable?  So far, it seems to be relieved by baking but
also by freezing.  I wonder if playing Mozart to the reeds might help?  Or
maybe some "smooth jazz".

Cliff