Tom, At 13:37 04/18/2000 -0400, you wrote: >OK Ed and Newton, I'm not sure I understand yet. Greater bearing >area......hmmmm....OK then, why not have a larger diameter round pin? I'm not Newton or Ed, as they would be quick to point out, but... A larger diameter round pin would still have to fit in the mortice. I don't know what the radius of the bearing surface is, but I'd bet that a round pin with that radius would be wider than a sharp key. If you think of a small round pin bearing against a flat bushing as being tangent, then the bearing surface is an edge and very quickly would cut through the cloth. Actually, it starts out as an edge, but as it wears into the cloth it contacts more and more surface. More surface contact area means a slower wear rate since theoretically you aren't putting any more sideways pressure on the key. (i.e less psi since there is more si). So... the oval pin (batpin to some, since it resembles a cricket bat) starts out presenting a larger wear area and thus longer wear time, while still fitting inside of a normal width key. Conrad Hoffsommer - mailto:hoffsoco@luther.edu If at first you don't succeed, look in the trash for the instructions ***If you receive something that says "Send this to everyone you know", >>>>> pretend you don't know me. <<<<< .
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