Capo bars

[Delwin D Fandrich]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: caut-bounces@ptg.org [mailto:caut-bounces@ptg.org]On Behalf Of
> Isaac sur Noos
> Sent: January 30, 2004 11:49 PM
> To: College and University Technicians
> Subject: RE: Capo bars
> 
> 
> 
> We have the same kind of shop there, I asked about Beryllium 
> bronze the other day, and have find this material to be really 
> high prized (around 80$ +VAT for a 3 feet length)

It was not beryllium bronze. Check with a metals supplier. Bronze wire and rod is only available in a few basic alloys. The rod I purchased had been ordered for another customer who had not been back to pick it up --  after a year or so the vendor deemed it appropriate to sell. But nobody said anything about its being in any way exotic. As I said, it was probably either manganese or silicon bronze. See what is available off-the-shelf. 


> 
> I don't get what you mean for the back bevel, do you intend to 
> get a flat surface on both the rod and the capo ? 

The capo tastro bar and the V-bar are two different things even if they are most often part of the same casting. The capo-tastro bar is formed in the bottom part of the mold, the V-bar in the top. 

There is a drawing in one of my PT Journal articles illustrating what I mean. I want a specific contour on the V-bar. The basic radius of the V-bar is approximately 3 mm. But, the back portion (that is, the part toward the speaking length and away from the front of the piano) is filed away at approximately a 45º angle to a point just behind the V-bar centerline. You can use either a hand file or a small sanding disc on a die grinder. The front portion is left with the original radius.


> The method used 
> by Stephen is to route with a flexible grinder , a channel in the 
> capo, then simply pose the rod inside, it hold by itself with the 
> string's pressure (difficult to route clean and measured to avoid 
> warps and angle changes).

Yes, it is difficult. That is why I bed the rod in an epoxy loaded with steel powder.

Del