Re: [Harp-L] files

[Michelle LeFree <mlefree@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Matthew Smart wrote:
> Lubricate them with first with mineral oil

Never tried that; good idea.

> Clean them with wire brush or dremel metal brush attachment
> dont use your best one for filing solder

You guys ever hear of a file card? It's a very short and tough bristled 
brush specially made for removing foreign material from files. I should 
add that I haven't actually tried this because I don't like using silver 
solder for tuning. Last time I felt the need to drastically retune a 
harp I used the method that Pat Missin used to recommend -- brass powder 
mixed with epoxy (haven't checked to see what he recommends these days). 
That worked quite well for me. Easy to apply without risking getting 
solder on the adjacent reed plate. Apply a pile, let it cure and then 
file or sand as needed. If you change your mind, an Exacto knife will 
chip it off quite cleanly. It sounds, however, that Blu-tack has 
overtaken solder in popularity for retuning.

> I keep a separate one for that, it will get gunked up no matter what

I use cheap files for the work that gunks up files and reserve 
high-quality files for fine work.

Michelle