Capo-hardening

[Fred Sturm]

Ron Overs wrote:
> 
> Greeting CAUTians,
> 
> I recently subscribed to the CAUT list. 

Hi Ron,
	Delighted to have you aboard!

> Richard wrote;
> 
>      Hmm.... well ok... termination issue it is... but a choice
>      of a very hard termination
>      neccessitates a choice of a round /wide termination... or
>      string breakage becomes an
>      issue.
> 
> What about the option of adjusting the string deflection angles
> Richard? I've sent this info' to you on a previous occasion, and our
> exhibition piano at Reno had small radius hardened bars with detuned
> duplex lengths, set to an angle of under-fifteen-degrees. Did you
> listen to top end of this piano? While some will claim that excessive
> energy gets over onto the duplex if the angle is too low, if the
> length is not too long and it is properly detuned, the lower
> deflection small radius hard detuned bars will work extremely well.
> 

I listened to that piano and was very impressed at the tonal production,
especially in octaves 5 and 6. I noticed the low angle, and said to
myself, hmmmm, maybe high angle isn't the only game in town. Thanks for
illuminating the subject - short length of duplex segment, detuned. 
> 
>      > In which case, as a choice of materials issue, it would
>      boil down to
>      > hardness of termination. And v pro seems quite good from
>      that point of
> 
>      > view, at least in my limited experience.
> 
> Not in mine, unless the bars have been heat treated. But they harden
> up just fine. We do it to every piano we build.

So I take it you heat harden your capos on v pro plates. Can you
describe how?

Regards,
Fred Sturm
University of New Mexico