RE: [Harp-L] Reed Arcing

["Tinus" <tinus@xxxxxxx>]

> Tinus's 
> overblow.com 
> site has some great photos to show his final results of 
> arcing, but it 
> doesn't explain the actual process of arcing.

I'm working on making photo's of the process itself, but that isn't as
easy as it sounds.
These reeds are small so it is difficult to make propper images

>  Is it 
> different from gapping 
> in that you deal with the entire reed and not just the free 
> tip?

In gapping I don't change the curve of the reed I just rotate the reed
at the base so that the tip position chnages. I wouldn't say that in
gapping I deal with the tip perse.

When I gap I either force the reed down in or up out of the slot by
applying pressure to the reed with a small screwdriver or a tuning fork
at aproximately 1/4th of the reed length from the rivet.
When I am forcing the reed up I apply pressure with a finger at the
rivet so that the deformation of the reed takes place past the slot
opening and not at the rivet itself.

When I arc a reed I mostly use my fingers and a small screwdriver,
preferably one that is more or less as wide as the slot because that way
I have less change of causing an uneven arc.

If the tip of the reed is turned up I hold down the tip and the rivetend
with a finger and push with the screwdriver from under the plate in the
middle of the reed.

If the tip is turned down too much I just pus with the screwdriver at
the tip (from under the plate) while holding the reed down at the rivet.

All this is rather subtle work ant takes some Fingerspitzengefühl.

Tinus
http://www.overblow.com