Re: [Harp-L] Embossing Tool

[Michelle LeFree <mlefree@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

When Matthew Smart asked:
> I once saw a picture of a tool that was esentially a ball bearing on a metal
> stick. Does anyone know what this is called and/or where I can get one?
>    
The inimitable Dave Payne replied:
> It was a tuning fork.
>    

Tuning forks do have a ball end, but so do these "Reducing Punches" from 
Micro-Mark, a more cost-effective solution if you are looking for a 
ball-shaped tool:

http://www.micromark.com/3-PIECE-REDUCING-PUNCH-SET,8010.html

However, I prefer to use tools of other shapes for embossing. A 
spherical tool like a ball cannot "reach" into the corners of the reed 
slot, an important area in which to reduce air leakage. A cylindrical 
tool like a socket (from a socket wrench kit) can reach further into the 
slot corners, but still the rounded edge of a socket cannot emboss the 
very corners of the slot plus they are clumsy tools for treating the end 
of the slot.

I used to use a socket but I found that because reeds are frequently not 
perfectly centered, I spent an inordinate amount of time "de-embossing" 
the side that was overembossed and too close or even touching the reed 
(even though both sides of the slot were embossed symmetrically by the 
socket). Now I use a precision screwdriver on which I've deliberately 
rounded all the sharp edges so as to render it useless as a screwdriver 
but handy for embossing single slot edges, corners and slot ends.

There are lots of ways to emboss a reed slot and you don't need to buy 
an expensive tool to do it. :-)

Michelle