[Harp-L] Re:Was American Chestnut combs, now stainless steel(

[David Payne <dmatthew@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

There is one way to do it, if you wanna try for fun. 


A chromatic is essentially two diatonics separated and one switches between them with the slide. With that in mind,
First, find some sharks with laser beams (Austin Powers reference), then
Use two pieces of wood that are slightly less than half the thickness of a chromatic comb, as in 1/4 inch sanded down a bit. Remove the laser beams and discard the sharks. Make what is essentially two diatonic-looking combs and sandwich a thin piece of wood between them. Use a good glue and seal the wood like wood has never been sealed before and you have the common man's homemade chromatic comb, common except for the lasers and sharks, of course. 
I've been thinking about this in the back of my mind, using more than one piece of wood and arranging the grains to make a more stable comb. 

Dave
__________________
Dave Payne Sr. 
Elk River Harmonicas    
www.elkriverharmonicas.com 






	* To: "Seth Galitzer" <sethgali@xxxxxxxxx>,	"geoff atkins" <geoffatkins@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
	* Subject: Re: [Harp-L] Re:Was American Chestnut combs,	now stainless steel(Vern Smith, Dave Payne)
	* From: "Vern Smith" <jevern@xxxxxxx>
	* Date: Thu, 11 Jun 2009 10:13:46 -0700
	* Cc: harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx
	* References: <200906102056.n5AKlHfp025607@xxxxxxxxxx><8D2AB00857984667A54CA41BDEC1C7D6@Geoff1>	<4A310BE8.2060206@xxxxxxxxx>
________________________________
 A few years ago I led a group who cooperated in making over 
a hundred SS Hohner 270 chromatic combs.  We encountered and 
solved some technical challenges.  Now there are over a 
hundred happy harpers tootling away on their SS 270s.  The 
CNC machine had trouble tapping the 1-72 screw holes and we 
eventually did it by drilling out to #2 and tapping by hand. 
It turned out to be more trouble and cost than we had 
anticipated but most participants in the project seem happy 
with the result.

You could not make a chromatic comb with a laser because the 
laser can't penetrate to a controlled depth.  I would be 
interested in knowing how accurately the laser could control 
the edges of the chambers.  Did the laser cut the front, 
back and sides?

There are good reasons for making and using a stainless 
steel comb.  One is just the challenge of overcoming the 
engineering problems.  Others include heft, long life, 
imperviousness to moisture & corrosion, precise & stable 
dimensions, strong steel screw threads and good looks. 
However, it won't sound perceptibly different from the same 
set of reedplates on a comb of any other type of metal, 
plastic, or wood.

I have a still-open, long-standing $1000 wager that no one 
can hear differences in sound arising from differences in 
comb material in otherwise identical harmonicas under 
controlled conditions.  Wanna bet?  ;o)

Vern