>..... > >>>I agree, and tapping in bridge pins would be even worse. >> >>Why? > >Friction levels. Seating a string with, say, a fingernail will do a >minimum of immediate damage to the cap (discounting whatever may happen at >the next wet cycle). Your math showed over 11 lbs of static friction >between string and pin. It seems to me that driving the pin would be >little different than seating the string directly with a tap from an 11 lb >hammer. > >Ron N I see. I'm not sure what's really happening when we're tapping strings or pins. It seems to me that we're applying a shock type load to the string - pin interface. This may serve to immediately break the static friction and start the string moving relative to the pin, so that the friction between the two is now a sliding friction, which is substantially lower (which may also be what's happening when the string is vibrating at the pin). But still, you would at least be applying the force due to sliding friction, which might be enough to further indent the cap. Phil F
This PTG archive page provided courtesy of Moy Piano Service, LLC