Excessive friction

[Thomas D. Seay, III]

Dear Colleagues,

We here at the University of Texas at Austin are experiencing a few
intermittent problems with Renner shanks and flanges. For some unknown
reason, a dozen or so from each set will literally seize up because of
excessive friction. When we examine the shanks and flanges in question,
what we often find is friction so great that the hammershank barely swings
two times. In one case, I actually rebushed and repinned an entire tenor
section, only to have the problem return, albeit in a more limited way than
before. I might add that a drop of Protek on each bushing caused the
friction to disappear completely and immediately. The question is - where
is this friction coming from?

This issue is NOT widespread, and is it certainly not my intention to
criticize Renner USA by rasinig it. On the contrary, I find Renner parts to
be unusually well designed and machined, which makes this issue even more
mystifying. I am wondering if anyone else has experienced this problem?

Many thanks.

Tom Seay
mailto:t.seay@mail.utexas.edu