<!doctype html public "-//w3c//dtd html 4.0 transitional//en"> <html> <body bgcolor="#FFFFFF"> David, <p>I'm amazed no one else replied to your post (at least not to the list).  Mine isn't much of a response, but I guess everyone agrees that the material has to at least be softer than the wire.  Better to have grooves in the pin than in the wire.  Why not brass or bronze?  Better rendering?  I don't know. <p>Along the same line, Boesendorfer now uses an agraffe with a steel wire driven through it above the holes to reinforce them.  It can't possibly make the brass any stronger, and if the string cuts through to the steel then it's liable to mar the string.  What's the thinking there? <p>Fazioli uses a bronze rod set in a groove in its capo section.  I think bearing material is a great subject for discussion. <p>Paul Larudee <p>David Love wrote: <blockquote TYPE=CITE><style></style> <font size=-1>I discovered on this piano I'm restringing (Schiedmayer c 1910) that the bridge pins are made from nails.  It brings up a question I've had.  Since false beat problems often arise from eventual cuts made in the side of the bridge pin, why are they made of such soft material as copper (though a guess they are actually "coppered", or some kind of alloy).   What other material are used, if any, and what is the cost/benefit of those materials?</font> <font size=-1>David Love</font></blockquote> </body> </html>