String Breakage (Reply)

[Ron Nossaman]

>Ron, ask a machinist.  They understand metals and their responses to heat.
>                    Newton
>
>Ron Nossaman wrote:
>


Newton,

Bend a coat ganger wire. It gets too hot to touch, and it work hardens. So
does music wire. A splice doesn't break in the loop, it breaks just below
the loop, where the loop of the other wire digs in. I've done enough welding
and torch hardening and tempering of various kinds of steel to get some idea
of how hot you have to get it to either anneal, or harden. Bending music
wire just work hardens it.

 Ron