Stephen Birkett wrote: >No-one is making wire like the old stuff...zero-carbon with phosphorus. >The way the iron was derived in the foundry for music wire pigs was >a process that naturally produced iron of this composition. Early >pragmatism...nothing fancy. They knew to take the first iron that ran off >the pig, since it had the most phosphorus, then de-carburized it with the >blast. That iron was destined for music wire alone. Drawing process was >carefully thought out too, but not complicated. > >There is modern soft wire that is passable, but not really like old wire >since it starts out as mild steel rod I think..alas the best we can do >right now. But we know how to make the real stuff...another project for my >rainy days. Stephen -- This may be a _profoundly_ silly idea, but ... Stelco and Dofasco are just down the pike from you, aren't they? Might one of their R&D departments welcome a change of pace, producing your high-phosphorus low carbon iron as a public relations exercise? For them a little trial run would probably give a supply that would last you for many years. They could take pretty photos of you using their historically accurate metal restringing your latest reproduction, and put them in a house publication or a TV spot ... Well, just a notion. I don't really know anything about metallurgy. Susan P.S. I begin to see that exploring the "front-end business" on big turn-of-the-century grands may involve a bit of travelling. The big Erards are mostly still in France, aren't they?
This PTG archive page provided courtesy of Moy Piano Service, LLC