Re: [Harp-L] Lowering the reed pad and reed aerodynamics

["Vern Smith" <jevern@xxxxxxx>]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Winslow Yerxa" <winslowyerxa@xxxxxxxxx>
To: "Harp-L" <harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx>; "Robert Coble" 
<robertpcoble@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Saturday, January 03, 2009 12:53 PM
Subject: Re: [Harp-L] Lowering the reed pad and reed 
aerodynamics


> Lowering the reedpad itself by lowering the corresponding 
> part of the reedplate surface has been tried by a few 
> people, notably Jerry Murad, who described it to me circa 
> 1996.

> The potential benefit is to be able to place the entire 
> length of the reed, especially the root (where the 
> vibrating length of the reed joins the reedpad) as close 
> as possible to the surface of the reedplate (and thereby 
> the slot. Pressing the root of the reed down with a 
> fingernail or a tool still does not eliminate that tiny 
> downward curvature from the root off the reed (which 
> always seems to be significantly higher than the ssurface 
> of the reedplate) to wherever your thumbnaail cam press 
> it.

The only reason that the bottom surface of the reed pad and 
the top surface of the plate would not lie on the same plane 
is that one (or both) of them is not flat.  A few careful 
strokes of a file to remove any high places of the mating 
surfaces should cure the problem without the need for a 
milling machine.

The most likely problem is a burr from punching the rivet 
hole in the reed. The first light stroke of the file should 
reveal any high places.

Vern