Re: [Harp-L] Fatigue and reed life

[David Payne <dave@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

The Steel appears to me as virtually identical to brass reeds in thickness. Maybe somebody can take a measurement and see. They seem the same to me. Eventually, the stainless reed might have a different profile altogether, remember this is all pretty new. 

I know what you are saying, they need to be thinner to vibrate properly with human breath. This would especially be noticeable on short-slot harmonicas... it would seem they would have to be thinner to work, Seydel took another approach to that, there simply is no short slot 1847. 1847 Ds, Es, Fs, are all long-slot harmonicas. That's especially nice on the D, cause it's the key that goes out on most guys, simply cause it's short slot, yet it gets as much playing pressure as the C... 

I don't think the steel makes any huge difference, really, in playability. There were so many other changes Seydel made with this harp, better cut reedslots, open back, thick covers, that make the harp play like it does. That reedslot cut was a HUGE difference, huge. It's much closer to the reed. 
Karl Pucholt is the big man behind the 1847. He could have made a stainless steel harp maybe back in the 1970s or 1980s if Seydel hadn't been government controlled under the East German Communist Government Overlords. Karl is the former DDR's version of SmoJoe. So Karl's been thinking about this, planning this in that Einstein of harps brain of his for 30 or 40 years, so in 2004, when Niamia media buys out Seydel, within like hours before it was closing forever, Seydel did't have a pit to poss in, but Karl had this steel reed harp in his back pocket ready for some serious development.  

I'm still playing mostly brass reeds. I can fix my own stuff, emboss my own plates, etc. If I emboss an 1847 reedplate, it will play about like the brass reedplate I'd embossed, the main thing the 1847 has going for it at that point are those thick, awesome coverplates.. But stock, the 1847 is much better and has a longer life. I've not had a customer blow one out yet that I know of, but they've gone through a few brass harps in that time. 

Eventually, the 1847 reeds will fatigue, but the wait for fatigue is a heckuva lot longer than for brass.

Dave
___________________________
Dave Payne Sr
Elk RIver Harmonicas
www.elkriverharmonicas.com 



----- Original Message ----
From: Joe and Cass Leone <leone@xxxxxxxx>
To: Aongus MacCana <amaccana@xxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Thursday, April 17, 2008 8:07:48 PM
Subject: Re: [Harp-L] Fatigue and reed life


On Apr 17, 2008, at 7:16 PM, Aongus MacCana wrote:

> Hi Vern,
> I guess it would and as soon as you took any retuning cuts on the  
> reed you
> would undo any possible benefits.

Aongus, you have been right on the money all along. The idea is to  
not CUT. The tuning should be done by BUFFING. Anyone with half a  
brain knows that you never take sharp cuts to anything. Even the tiny  
parts of watches aren't cut sharply. ALL edges are 'broken'.  (eased  
or rounded off). Inside and outside edges are radiussed. Any Italian  
can tell you that not rounding is a big mistake with cement/concrete.  
Any boat builder can tell you that not rounding is a big mistake with  
fiberglass or carbon reinforced plastic resins.

> My instinct (like yours) is that work on the root of the reed, (in  
> other
> words tuning down) would be more detrimental because that is where the
> maximum bending moment and maximum stress would occur.

Absolutely, no question about it. I see the manufacturers 'step-down'  
the brass at the rivet pad. Sometimes it is very sharp. Big mistake.  
If I were making a long bow, I would never step down anywhere near  
the holding point (fulcrum), It has to be 'eased' down to spread the  
stress. That is why I voiced some concern the other day over SS  
reeds. My feeling was that they would almost HAVE to be thinner than  
brass in order to 'sing' with the pressure of the human breath. Maybe  
they have a way to soften the steel. But then, maybe there wouldn't  
have to BE a step down in the reeds profile. (or at least not as great).

> At the tip of the
> reed it would be relatively stress free.

Yeah, same as a tuning fork.

> Beannachtaí
> Aongus
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Vern Smith [mailto:jevern@xxxxxxx]
> Sent: 17 April 2008 22:33
> To: Aongus MacCana; Harp-L List
> Subject: Re: [Harp-L] Fatigue and reed life
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Aongus MacCana" <amaccana@xxxxxxxxxx>
> To: "Harp-L List" <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx>
> Sent: Thursday, April 17, 2008 11:18 AM
> Subject: [Harp-L] Fatigue and reed life
>
>
>> ..................They also compress
>> the outer surface of such components by shot peening them  
>> (bombarding them
>> with steel shot)but this does not look like a feasible strategy for
>> harmonica reeds.
>> Aongus Mac Cana
>
> Bead-blasting, the same peening process but with very small glass  
> beads,
> might be feasible on reeds.  Tuning to lower pitch would spoil the  
> effect,
> if any.  Do you think that peening might alter pitch?
>
> Vern
> Visit my harmonica website www.Hands-Free-Chromatic.7p.com
>
>
>
>
>
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