Hey , if you have to travel for research for your occupation, that makes it deductible, right? James Grebe R.P.T. from St. Louis pianoman@inlink.com "I am only as good as my last tuning" ---------- > From: Susan Kline <skline@proaxis.com> > To: pianotech@ptg.org > Subject: Re: promised reply (Susan) > Date: Friday, December 19, 1997 4:21 PM > > > 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? >
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